Hotel chief gets jail for bribery

The chief executive of a of Bavaria Hotels International has been sentenced to jail for revealing company secrets and demanding a bribe, according to a report in The National.

TG, 48, was sentenced to six months in jail and ordered to repay AED 385,000 (US $105,000) following being found guilty of asking for cash in return of awarding an AED 5.5m contract to the Irish company Lissadell.

The National reported that, TG contacted the owner of Lissadell and persuaded him to pay seven per cent of the tender value in exchange for the contract to supply towels and bedding.

The financial manager of Bavaria Hotels, AK, told prosecutors he was subsequently contacted by the Lissadell sales manager in the UAE who said the defendant had shown him the contesting tender prices, violating company secrecy laws.

TG was not present in court as he was free on bail, however, if an appeal is to be lodged he will have to pay the AED 385,000 and it will have to be done within 15 days.

Bavaria is due to open a 2100-suite property in Media City next year, the largest all-suite hotel in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe.