THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The employees of a star hotel in capital city fell for the trap of a fraudster when he introduced himself as an event manager wearing a suit and speaking fluent English. He fled the hotel without paying money after staying for three days and also stole the laptop. Now he has been captured by the police. Vincent John (63), a resident of Natarajapuram in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, was arrested by the Cantonment Police.

He is accused in more than 200 fraud cases in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Kerala and Maharashtra. He was arrested once before in Thrissur and had spent some time in jail.

Vincent, who escaped from the hotel last Friday, was caught on Sunday with the help of cyber police. When the hotel's CCTV was inspected based on the complaint, it was identified that Vincent was behind this. He was caught from the Kollam railway station following the location of the mobile tower. He told the police that he had sold the laptop worth half a lakh rupees in Kollam.

He booked rooms by giving fake name and address. Vincent Jayan was the name given in Thiruvananthapuram. Therinathan, Michael Joseph, Dilip Stephen, Michael Fernando, Vijay Karan, Rajeev Desai and more than a dozen names were used for the scam. Visiting cards and ATM cards in these names were seized from him.

Cantonment CI Muhammad Shafi said that Vincent John, who was remanded by the court, will be taken into custody for further investigation. More details about him will be available only after this.

Vincent John only selects star hotel for fraud. The hotel staff will fall for his talk as he introduces himself as a millionaire. After paying a small advance, he says that he will pay the rest including the food bill when he vacates. He enjoys the luxury for three or four days in the hotel room. Then he hatches a plan to escape. He asked for a conference hall for a business meeting in a city hotel. He said that his laptop broke down and requested another one for presentation in the meeting. The hoteliers believed him and gave him the laptop and fell for his trap.