Hotel worried about $87,000 bill left by Skyline director
HERITAGE Park Hotel is worried about an $87, 389.50 bill one of the directors of Skyline Investment Group has left without settling it.
The hotel’s general manager Sanjay Bhargava confirmed Jason Liu Tao, whom a widely circulated email described as an international scammer, had booked with them on 4 July 2015.
He was scheduled to check out on 31 August 2015 (Monday this week).
But Mr Bhargava said Mr Tao disappeared from the hotel 15 days ago and has not been seen around since then.
“He has not checked out, his belongings are still in the room but I have not seen him in the last 15 days,” Mr Bhargava said.
“I’ve asked my staff about this person but they too have no idea about his whereabouts,” he added.
“Our concern is with the unpaid bill he left behind.
“We are not happy with this kind of attitude. If he comes back to the hotel, we’ll tell him to settle his bill at once and to leave the hotel,” Mr Bhargava told the Solomon Star.
Mr Tao’s Skyline Investment has promised the government it’s here to invest in multi-million dollar tourism projects.
It has also offered to rehabilitate Henderson International Airport, upgrade the road from the airport to the city, and invest in 5,000 homes for public servants.
But the credibility of the company was cast into doubt after an email from a Chinese Mr Tao allegedly scammed, was sent to mainland China embassies in the Pacific and to the media.
The email called on police in Fiji, Australia, and Solomon Islands to arrest Mr Tao and send him back to China.
Mr Tao has avoided the media since the allegations surfaced and attempts to talk to him last week failed.
When the Solomon Star contacted the Special Secretary to the Prime Minister Rence Sore about the whereabouts of Mr Tao last week, he said the Chinese was in Fiji.
When the Solomon Star spoke to a colleague of Mr Tao in Fiji, Pan Yan Bing, he claimed Mr Tao is in the United States.
But the Solomon Star understands from sources in the travel industry that Mr Tao has not left the country since he booked in at Heritage Park Hotel.
Mr Sore has also earlier told the Solomon Star Mr Tao could not speak English.
But staff at Heritage Park Hotel said they communicate easily in English with Mr Tao, who records have shown he obtained his Chinese passport from the mainland China embassy in Mexico.
Skyline Investment has also promised to invest in tourism projects in Fiji since they arrived there last year.
Fiji journalists spoken to said they found it hard to interview Mr Tao because his whereabouts have never been disclosed by his colleagues.
Meanwhile, Our Telekom has revealed Mr Tao’s colleague Pan Yan Bing, has left behind an unsettled bill of $10,169.29 for the use of a post-paid mobile phone.
Telekom has since disconnected mobile phone number 74968811 because the subscriber failed to pay up his bill.
Pan Yan Bing is believed to be in Fiji at the moment.
The company had rented an office space at Hyundai mall in central Honiara, but they are yet to occupy the office.
By AATAI JOHN
