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Ten individuals, mostly of Pakistani origin, duped hundreds of travelers of more than $1 Million, selling them fraudulent air passages after advertizing their business in local ethnic media outlets. They gave their travel agencies Indian names attracting mostly travelers to India.
On Dec. 12, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., announced the indictment of 10 individuals connected to a commercial travel scam in which the defendants used illegally procured credit card information to steal more than $1 million from some 200 victims who found they had no seats on planes when they reached the airport.
As a result, many who had planned these journeys long ago whether to attend a wedding or see sick family members, found themselves stranded at the airport. The alleged perpetrators have been charged in New York Supreme Court with varying counts of grand larceny in the second degree, identity theft in the first degree, and scheme to defraud, among other charges. According to a spokesperson from the D.A.’s office, if convicted of grand larceny in the 2nd degree, the alleged perpetrators could be sentenced to a maximum of 5 to 15 years.
Those indicted include SADAQAT ALI, 48, of Bronx, New York; Sumit Chawla, 42, of Pakistan; Zubair Dar, 49, of Queens, N.Y.; Sarfraz Khan, 51, also from Queens; Shah Nawaz Kiani, 29, of Pakistan; Muhammad Asif, 32, also from Pakistan; Chaudhary Muhammad Arif, 56, of Brooklyn, N.Y.; Rana Muhammad Tariq, 32, of Pakistan; one un-named person referred to as John Doe of Queens, N.Y.; and Manjeet Singh, aka Shammin Tamana, 40, of Queens, N.Y.
Vance warned those wanting to travel to be especially wary during the holiday season and urged people to call Cybercrime & Identity Theft Hotline at 212-335-9600, for any suspicious activity. “This alleged scheme left a pregnant woman stranded during a multi-part trip, forced relatives to miss a family wedding abroad, and made it impossible for a son to visit his cancer-stricken father in India,” DA Vance is quoted saying in a press release.
The ten travel agents named their incorporated companies Bombay Travel and Tours, Raj Travel, Gandhi Travel, Patel Travel and Maha Travel. Between June 2012 and November 2014, they opened several bank accounts in the name of these travel agencies using falsified passports and licenses. They placed advertisements in predominately Indian-American publications throughout the U.S. and offered competitively priced tickets to and from popular destinations in India.
Clients who approached them were instructed to provide names, passport numbers, and flight information, and deposit payment checks directly into bank accounts controlled by the defendants. The agents pocketed the money and used stolen credit card information—including that of American Express, Citibank, and Discover card holders—to buy the tickets that were later sent to their customers. When travelers arrived at the airport for their scheduled trips, many were informed that their tickets had been cancelled, or that they would not be able to travel using the illegally purchased tickets, for which they had already paid thousands of dollars to the defendants.
