Southall Travel Agent Avoids Jail After Scamming Customers
Victims turned up at airport to find no tickets had been booked for them
The ABC Shopping Centre in Southall. Picture: Google Streetview
A Southall travel agent has been handed a suspended three-month jail sentence after she scammed holidaymakers into handing over thousands of pounds.
Abida Khatoon Kyani, of Pinkwell Lane, Hayes, tricked customers into buying tickets with cash at her travel agency SM Travel Limited. Most customers had bought “once-in-a-lifetime” flights to see relatives in Pakistan, India and Afghanistan, many of who had fallen ill.
But once they turned up at the airport with their bags packed customers were often turned away and discovered their flights had not been booked by Kyani. Some victims were even persuaded to buy replacement tickets to reach their destination.
An investigation by Ealing Trading Officers and the City of London Police discovered Kyani had scammed travellers between October 2017 and August 2018.
The police and Ealing Council investigated the issue after vulnerable customers complained they had lost thousands when they booked tickets through SM Travel Limited, based at ABC Shopping Centre in Broadway, Southall.
When officers visited SM Travel Limited they found customers arguing with Kyani about payments they made for airline tickets which had later been cancelled. No tickets were ever issued.
Kyani was sentenced to three months in jail, suspended for 12 months, at Isleworth Crown Court on August 23. She will also have to complete 100 hours of unpaid community work. The court ordered her to pay £,1250 in compensation to her five victims and she has been banned from being a director for six years.
Councillor Bassam Mahfouz, Ealing Council’s cabinet member for decent living incomes, said, “We have pledged to get tough on fraudsters who take advantage of consumers. In this case, Ms Kyani deceived people out of their hard-earned cash for once-in-a-lifetime flight tickets to visit relatives, often relatives who were ill.
“This case demonstrates that our trading standards officers will persistently and robustly pursue criminals via enforcement and through the courts to ensure justice is done. These actions by our officers have sent a warning to those who might try to profit by defrauding our residents and consumers.”
Mohammed Tariq, in charge of the investigation for Ealing Council, said: “Many of these vulnerable victims, who trusted Ms Kyani to provide flights, suffered emotionally as well as financially from the difficulties that arose from this fraudulent and dishonest trading.
“It is important that consumers conduct their own research into travel companies that they are thinking of using and make sure they are members of ABTA and are ATOL protected by checking online.”
Jacob Phillips - Local Democracy Reporter
September 27, 2022
