The ultimate COVID-era travel bargain turned out to be a huge scam
A guest checking into a Manhattan hotel. Photo: ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images It sounded like the ultimate COVID-era travel bargain: five-star hotels in Manhattan at a 60 percent discount. “I do not know exactly what hotel u would be place but I know it would be 5 star hotel … be cash app ready!!” read a Facebook post hyping the deal.
Lewis, whose actual job was to book quarantine rooms on behalf of the city, had access to health-care workers’ personal information through her work at the Office of Emergency Management. But she allegedly used their credentials to book stays for her guests instead, making it look like they had been exposed to COVID. “I stole some doctor numbers and emails … I was writing down they employed ID number lmao,” prosecutors say Lewis wrote in a Facebook message.
The city caught up with the alleged scam in early July and immediately booted people from rooms and sent out letters canceling upcoming reservations that had been made through the scheme. If found guilty, Lewis could face more than 70 years in prison; her accomplices could each face 40 years.
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