The Guardia Civil are investigating a 45-year-old woman, a supervisor of the cleaning department of a hotel in Mogán, south Gran Canaria, who is accused of stealing €7,195 from guests. She was caught with cash and key cards hidden under her clothes on April 8th when she was identified by the police, according to a statement from their Las Palmas Command.
The woman is being charged with six alleged offences of theft which she supposedly committed in hotel rooms where she worked. The Guardia Civil received "a wave of complaints” from holidaymakers about money going missing from their hotel rooms, at the Puerto Rico-Mogán police station, and started an investigation.
All thefts occurred during the day, never after 5:00pm, always in the absence of guests, and without signs of forced entry or scaling to access the rooms. Despite valuables such as jewellery, tablets, or mobile phones being visible, primarily cash was stolen.
Analysis of electronic lock readings in the rooms only showed access by hotel staff, and surveillance camera footage from the establishment did not provide any information on access by outsiders.
It was therefore concluded that the alleged perpetrator could be a cleaning service worker who also served as a sub-manager, as she had access to the electronic keys of her subordinates. Additionally, she exercised her authority over newly hired staff to open doors using their identification cards under the pretext of checking the quality of their work, which meant her presence was not recorded in the logs.
With all evidence gathered, a police operation was established when the suspect returned to work after a day off, to catch her upon leaving and subject her to a superficial search, as well as searching her personal belongings and the vehicle she regularly used.
When confronted by the officers, the woman threw two cards to the ground, matching electronic keys of hotel employees, and attempted to dispose of €750 in cash hidden among her underwear.
In her car, a bank card in the name of a long-term resident of the hotel was found, along with 150 euros, 500 Norwegian kroner, and 20 Swedish kroner in banknotes.
The Guardia Civil has forwarded the case to the competent San Bartolomé de Tirajana investigating courts.
