Kochi, Wednesday, February 24, 2010: Police has filed a charge sheet against seven persons, including two former employees of the Kochi-based Dream Hotel owned by NRI hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal, for allegedly cheating the hotel of 9 crore rupees.

The charge sheet has been filed before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Ernakulam, N Leelamani against Ram Gupta, former Managing Director, and Satyendar Khurana, former director, projects of the Middle East Hotel Company and five others including three Delhi-based contractors.

Another accused Nirmal Khandelwal, a Delhi-based contractor, has obtained a stay in the Kerala High Court with regard to the proceedings against him and has not been charge sheeted. The case will come up for hearing on March 16. In recent weeks, Chatwal has been embroiled in a controversy over the award of Padma Bhushan with his critics claiming that there were some cases pending against him.

However, city police commissioner Manoj Abraham said there are no cases pending against Chatwal in Kochi. The charge sheet followed a criminal complaint filed by Fintan Francis, Finance Manager of the hotel, who alleged that the accused had defrauded the hotel of over Rs 15 crore during its renovation.