nzheraldHilton Hotels has suspended development of a new super-luxury chain of hotels after claims of industrial espionage triggered a criminal investigation.
Last month Hilton revealed the creation of Denizen Hotels, aimed at "citizens of the world", with sites planned in 13 major cities including London, New York and Mumbai.
However, Starwood, owner of the luxury W chain of hotels and the Sheraton and Le Meridien brands, alleges that Denizen's launch had been based on 100,000 documents, presentations and market research stolen by its former employees.
Hilton poached two executives, Ross Klein and Amar Lalvani, from Starwood to work on Denizen in June last year, and Starwood claims the two men downloaded the documents to personal email addresses before they left. Together, the documents amounted to a blueprint for the launch of the W chain, Starwood claims, and Hilton would not have been able to launch Denizen in the space of less than a year without all that information.
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