SUNNY ISLES BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A front desk receptionist at the Trump International Beach Resort in Sunny Isles Beach was arrested Wednesday after police said he altered guest payment records and diverted transactions for his personal financial benefit, causing more than $3,100 in losses to the hotel.
Lukas Nicolas Varela-Torres, 23, faces charges of grand theft, organized scheme to defraud, offenses against computer users and unlawful use of a communications device, according to Sunny Isles Beach police.
According to an arrest report, hotel management alerted police to irregularities involving guest payment transactions.
Investigators reviewed hotel records, transaction histories and audit reports and found a pattern in which guests initially paid for lodging and services in cash.
Police said Varela-Torres later voided, reversed, canceled or modified those cash transactions in the hotel’s property management system and replaced them with card-based payments linked to his own financial accounts.
Authorities said the repeated transactions caused the hotel to incur credit card processing fees that would not have been charged if the original cash payments had remained unchanged.
The hotel documented losses of about $3,106.22, according to the report.
Police said investigators contacted Varela-Torres at the resort on June 17 before taking him into custody and transporting him to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
During a bond court hearing, a judge found probable cause, set bond at $1,500 on each of the four charges, ordered him to stay away from the hotel and noted an immigration hold.
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