Former Travel Agency Owner Faces New Charges
Mena Travel Agency
Sisters out $3,700 for an Aruba vacation that never happened after travel agency closed its doors.
More than a year after a travel agency abruptly closed its storefront in Colchester, police are filing additional charges against the former owner.
According to the Norwich Bulletin, Colchester police added three counts of third-degree larceny to the list of pending charges against Deborah Long, 54, of Norwich. She is the former owner of Alpha Travel, also known as Long Travel LLC, said police.
The newest claims are from two sisters who allegedly booked trips to Aruba together but found out too late that their money was gone.
Long already has 10 pending criminal cases against her. Would-be vacationers claim that Alpha Travel took their money, failed to book their vacations and then sent notices announcing the dissolution of the business.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit filed by Colchester Officer Thomas Kelo, the sisters spent about $3,700 before learning through a letter that they wouldn't be reimbursed, reported the paper.
In another case, a 65-year-old Lisbon woman made reservations for a trip to Jamaica for her son's honeymoon. She allegedly paid $1,300 in June 2008. And like many customers, police say the woman received a letter from Alpha Travel through an attorney from Advanced Bankruptcy Services stating that the agency was being dissolved.
“I regret to inform you that due to failure of the business operations, the agency appears to be financially insolvent and, therefore was not able to tender the remaining balance owed to the applicable vendor(s). Consequently, your trip was not booked and paid for in a timely fashion,” the letter apparently stated.
Customers later were notified that they had 120 days to submit claims to the secretary of the state’s office. In a letter announcing the dissolution of the company, the reasons stated included “cost of operation too great,” and “profit from business not enough to maintain expenses.”
Police said a total of more than $30,000 was never refunded to customers who planned trips.
Posted Thursday, Dec 31, 2009 - 8:06 AM EST
Top Stories
