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Dinesh Chawla and his brother were partners with the Trump Organization on multiple hotel projects in the Mississippi Delta until this year.
Last year, The New York Times profiled Chawla, whose father, V.K. Chawla grew up in a refugee camp in Punjab, India, and started the family’s hotel business about three decades ago after seeking the advice of Trump, then a New York real estate developer.
According to police records, airport security footage recorded Dinesh Chawla on Aug. 18 removing another passenger’s suitcase from a baggage claim carousel and putting it in his car before taking a flight.
The airport police said they searched the car and discovered the suitcase and another piece of luggage that had been taken from the airport a month earlier. Chawla was arrested when he returned to Memphis on Thursday and admitted to stealing the two bags and their contents, valued at about $4,000, according to a police affidavit.
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Chawla told an officer “that he knows stealing luggage is wrong, but he does it for the thrill and excitement,” the records said.
The arrest, first reported by News Channel 3, a CBS affiliate in Memphis, resulted in two felony theft charges.
Chawla, who lives in Cleveland, Mississippi, declined to comment when reached by email.
The Chawlas had been developing properties that were to include the first of two new Trump hotel brands. In February, the Trumps shelved the new hotel lines, citing a difficult political climate, and amicably parted ways with the Chawlas.
This article originally appeared in
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