IHG has announced that Patrick Imbardelli has quit from his position of Chief Executive, Asia Pacific Region with immediate effect after it was found he had lied on his CV.

Patrick Imbardelli, recently awarded Asia Pacific Hotelier of the Year by Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, has quit after it was discovered he had lied on his CV.

According to the report in Times Online, the resignation is with immediate effect.

Imbardelli, based in Singapore, was the chief executive of InterContinental Hotels in Asia Pacific and a prospective board member at the leisure group.

Imbardelli, who came into the InterContinental Hotels fold from Southern Pacific Hotel Corp (SPHC), has had a meteoric rise in his career, one of the reasons cited for his being bestowed the Asia Pacific Hoteliers of the Year award.

He was brought in to Singapore from Sydney in 2000 to be chief marketing officer of then-Bass Hotels & Resorts by Richard Hartman. He then succeeded Hartman after the latter moved to London.

According to the Times Online report, a spokesman for InterContinental Hotels said was quoted as saying, "This is a very serious matter and we have treated it very seriously."

The report quoted the spokesman as saying that Imbardelli told the company when he applied for his job that he had three university degrees.

Here's what the rest of the Times Online report said:

"He had claimed a Bachelor of Arts from Victoria University in Australia and a Bachelor of Sciences and a Masters from Cornell University in America, the spokesman said.

But following an internal review after InterContinental announced plans in May to promote Mr Imbardelli to the main board, it was discovered that he had none of these qualifications.

"While he attended classes at the universities, he did not graduate," the spokesman said. He said that the company had discovered the anomaly after viewing "internal information" but he declined to confirm whether there had been a whistleblower.

"This decision follows an internal review of the academic qualifications of Patrick as previously presented to the company," InterContinental told its investors in a formal statement to the stock market.

The spokesman confirmed that Mr Imbardelli would be receiving no pay-off and no disciplinary action would follow. He said that neither Mr Imbardelli nor his legal representatives would be making any comment today and declined requests for an interview.

Tony South, currently the senior vice-president of development and asset management for Asia Pacific at IHG, becomes the acting chief executive with immediate effect."

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