A worker at a Trump branded hotel was a little too excited to earn credit card rewards, and it ultimately caused him to be arrested (thanks to View from the Wing for flagging this).
Continue reading: Trump Hotel Worker Arrested For Sneaky Scheme To Earn Credit Card Points
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Of course we will have comments that this is Trump's fault as Trump most certainly hires and vets even desk clerks at his hotels. Hotel clerks ripping off their employers is about as novel as retail workers ripping off their retail employer.
Lucky, I think he did allegedly ‘steal’ in some form. He may not have pocketed the cash, but he did incur a loss to take place by having his employers pay the swipe fees that would have been avoided with those cash payments. So, it is not theft in the traditional sense but it did happen hence why he was charged with grand theft. Wondering if there is more to this story though.
No, it is obviously the Biden administration's fault. Or, he was a DEI hire. He was probably also one of those anti-fascists, like the radical left George Patton and Dwight Eisenhower when they decided to gang up on the fascists.
"No, it is obviously the Biden administration's fault."
Don't forget that "sleepy Joe" was forgetful, and therefore he destroyed the country and made earth disrespect the USA and not take the USA seriously.
Cash-handling costs and related risks for businesses are often no lower than card-processing-related feeds, but of course employers aren’t going to be fans of employee’s taking cash from the business and settling customer receipt balances via alternative payment methods even if not a loss-generator.
From the piece:
"To be clear, he wasn’t “stealing” the money. Instead, he just wanted the credit card rewards, and the theft here involves the extra swipe fees the hotel incurred as a result of this scheme."
"...The claim is that the hotel lost around $3,100 in this scheme, so based on swipe fees, that would probably translate..."
Ben- I know you don’t care about my opinion, but your politically charged articles/titles are petty and immature.
@ Ni -- Sorry, what is politically charged here? This happened at a Trump hotel. Is it also politically charged when I write about a Hyatt or Marriott hotel?
I am more interested in what he did with 100k in cash? Spent it on products and services that don't accept credit cards? I am sure there would be lots of questions if he tried to deposit that much cash in a bank.
"I guess he worked at a hotel and he was taking the cash and voiding the transactions, and then he had an application where he was using these transactions I think to accumulate credit card points."
"guess"?
"I think"
This is disgraceful. Even in a civil matter with a lower standard of proof I would be bounced for mere guesses.
Mr. Prosecutor, you were not prepared for your hearing. Nor do you continue charges when you "guess" or "think". Of course you can allege, but such allegations must be based on more than speculation. Do your homework, develop a theory which is based on more than guesses and start over.
Sorry but I really don't think this warrants arrest? Assuming the facts are as presented (he didn't 'steal' any money, reimbursed the hotel in full, and the hotel merely lost the CC fees) surely the more appropriate course of action would be to charge him the outstanding amount lost, ban him from doing this again, and potentially a slap on the wrist?
Ten years ago when I was hard-charging for points accumulation, a friend of mine was going to write a check (over $6K) for some home furnishings. I had two min spends for a sign up bonuses to meet and he let me pay with the cards and reimbursed me. It was the best day!
I thought it was the left that was meant to be made up of snowflakes who see something to complain about where there's nothing to see.
True. Get in some sort of trouble - yes - but arrest?
What if he would be simply telling guests "if you have and you use it instead of cash, you would score double points" - would that be much different?
The Trump International Beach Resort in Sunny Isles is an independently owned and managed property with no affiliation to the Trump Organization. Its name is a historical coincidence. The resort is operated and owned by a completely different company
If that was your best day I don’t even want to know what a bad day for you is like.
The more significant issue here is the level of swipe fees being charged by credit card companies. These fees are partially funding the miles and points game in the United States. Credit card companies will argue that the costs of doing business (i.e. fraud, lobbying Congress to retain their closed markets/monopolies and payments to airlines as part of the points schemes) are significant and justify the high fees. I would argue that this two to three percent skim called swipe fees is a burden on the economy, and the credit card cartels should be subject to the same anti trust legislation that broke up the other historical monopolies.
Who pays for a hotel stay in cash? Drug dealers, hookers, and end-of-the-world-is-near cult members.
What about the fees to hire people to count and account for cash (and its losses)? The armored cars and protection and workers' time to take it to the bank?
Prosecutor doesn’t need a why. Just has to prove the elements of the indictment.
This guy is going to jail for changing the payment method and scheming to earn credit card points. The guy with his name on the hotel, who has been convicted of sexual assault and tax fraud, who is treating the US government and the presidency like a cash register, and who likely raped underaged girls, remains free.
End of the world is near cult members would definitely use credit, so then they might not ever have to pay it back!
I would think he used it to pay off the bill racked up with his credit card for charging all those rooms.
@flyguy1 even if the "Trump International Beach Resort in Sunny Isles is an independently owned and managed property with no affiliation to the Trump Organization" the owner/operator pays a licensing fee to the Trump Organization (or some similar Trump company) for the use of the "Trump" name. The hotel is known as the "Trump International Beach Resort" and thus it is appropriate to call it a "Trump" hotel, just like when talking about, say, an independently owned and operated Marriott it would still be appropriate to call it a Marriott, even if it's not owned/operated by Marriott corporate.
Much different from an independent or franchised Marriott. This resort is not bookable through the Trump Hotels website, unlike franchised Marriott properties, and it has no affiliation beyond a name-licensing arrangement. So your take is incorrect.
Exactly! Card fees are typically much cheaper than true cash costs (storage, security, loss, counting, management, etc). And cards are safer. I had a friend mugged and killed during his weekly bank run. Cash costs are not free.
Hey!! Sounds like this guy should get a job at the White House, maybe he can be the next FBI Director!!!!
My point is not to argue that cash is better than credit. My point is to outline the large fees US credit card companies collect from merchants for the "convenience" of paying by credit card. In any case, "cash" in most of the world is not exchanged using bills and coins but rather by using services like Interac which use debit cards that provide the convenience of a credit card without some benefits but charge a much lower fee to the merchant. People who choose this method do not collect points but pay the same prices charged by merchants as the pricing of goods and services builds in the exorbitant fees charged by major credit card companies. In many countries, cash payment using physical money is either non existent or a very small portion of total sales, with cashless payment either via credit or debit cards the norm. The other cash like form of payment, cheques, is losing traction in the US, but 54% of Americans still wrote a cheque to pay for something,
@Travelin Yeah, you are correct. I misread what Ben posted. Keep on travelin’ Willy.
Don't think the legal elements of what constitutes "theft" happened here. Case will get dismissed. But the employee needs a decent attorney.
This shouldn't be a criminal case. Civil? Absolutely - sack him and sue him for the fees by all means. But this case fits Judge Judy better than criminal court.
Naw, could be prosecuted for fraud, theft; since it’s one of HIS properties, the glaring hypocrisy is hard to miss though. Frontline employee will likely get jail time over this; president can do unspeakable harm, and gets FIFA Piece Prize.
Donald Trump sold this hotel years ago with the stipulation that the Trump name could remain. It is no longer owned by the Trump family.
The hotel operated by the Trump family in the Miami area is the fabulous Trump National Doral, where I have had the pleasure of staying a few times.
Just as long he did not make an individual deposit of over $10k, no federal paperwork!!
There is an episode in The Sopranos where Carmela makes multiple cash deposits just below $10k to avoid federal government detection. Tony is absolutely livid that Carmela is making the deposits fearing IRS detection.
I agree - let's not forget that it's not free for the hotel to manage cash transactions either, so how much have they really "lost out", given their forecasting would have likely made an assumption of operating cost based on past % split of payments (likely heavily weighted towards card transactions, given it's a hotel and all).
Agree, not seeing any attempt to permanently deprive the hotel of anything it would otherwise have had (also noting that handling cash isn't free). But yeah, a decent lawyer to argue that will be required, otherwise prosecution will argue it at face value.