A South Carolina man got a room at a Hot Springs hotel, tricked employees into thinking he was buying the hotel, and then stole more than $33,000 from the business in plain sight, police said.
Michael Phillip Luby, 50, was arrested this week on allegations that he scammed the owner of the Springs Hotel and Spa during a three-month period in 2018 and collected 14 deposits from unsuspecting employees.
"He conned me," said Matt Rodgers, the operations manager at Springs Hotel and Spa. "I felt betrayed by him."
Luby, whose arrest warrant was filed in March, was jailed Monday on a charge of theft of property valued at more than $25,000. He is scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 10 in Garland County Circuit Court.
The hotel's previous owner, Frances Garey, reported to Hot Springs police that Luby had convinced her that he was intent on buying the hotel from her and that he was getting his "funds secured" to move forward with the purchase, according to an arrest affidavit.
Garey had told people that she was interested in selling the property at 135 Central Ave. and that's when Luby, who was an acquaintance of hers, pitched to her the idea of buying it, police said.
Garey agreed to allow Luby to stay at the hotel after he told her he needed time to get his finances in order, the affidavit stated. While he was staying there, he told employees he had bought the hotel and started making decisions for the property as though he owned it, according to police.
"He was so friendly," Rodgers said. "He would talk to everybody. He met all the employees. He would just be laughing and carrying on."
Luby instructed employees, including Rodgers, to take cash from the drawers and give it to him. Rodgers, knowing Luby was staying at the hotel with the owner's permission, started giving him most of the deposits without a second thought, he said.
Luby carried out the ruse from June to September 2018, according to the affidavit.
Eventually, Garey and others at the hotel started to get suspicious after Luby said over and over again that his investments were falling through, Rodgers said.
Rodgers found out Wednesday that Luby had been arrested when a hotel employee showed him a newspaper article.
"I didn't know if they'd ever catch him," he said.
Cpl. Joey Williams, a Hot Springs police spokesman, said Luby was serving probation for a federal conviction and his probation officer told him he should surrender. He did so Monday at the Garland County jail, Williams said.
The Springs Hotel and Spa remains closed as it undergoes renovations under new ownership.
Rodgers, who is still employed at the hotel, said it is scheduled to reopen in May.
Metro on 11/28/2019