A travel agent has admitted ripping off her customers in a scheme that netted her more than $77,000.
Zahra Rachid, the director of Travel World at Arncliffe in Sydney, pleaded guilty in court to fraud involving eight customers in 2023 and 2024.
The scheme involved Ms Rachid booking international flights for her clients but then secretly cancelling the tickets and pocketing the refunds for herself.
The victims often didn’t find out about the scam until they contacted their airlines to finalise their travel plans, with one man being turned away at Sydney Airport when he arrived for his five-week holiday to Greece.
According to a report on 9news.com.au, he paid Ms Rachid $2,499 for the Etihad flight in February 2024 and picked up the ticket, but she cancelled the booking the same day.
Another victim paid Ms Rachid more than $50,000 in October 2023 to book business class flights and accommodation for a family trip to Lebanon and Portugal. Ms Rachid cancelled that booking through Airtickets and emailed Emirates to try and speed up the refund.
The court heard that the 54-year-old’s business was in financial trouble at the time of the crimes.
Ms Rachid pleaded guilty to eight counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception and will be sentenced in January.
The case has led the Australian Travel Industry Association (ATIA) to remind consumers to always book through ATIA Accredited travel businesses.
Travel World Sydney’s accreditation was cancelled in July 2019 after the business failed to meet renewal requirements, including the provision of financial documentation.
“There’s no place in our industry for fraud or criminal behaviour,” said Dean Long, ATIA CEO.
“No one like this is welcome in our industry. We hope the penalty reflects the seriousness of the offences and that the book is thrown at this individual.
“This case serves as a reminder of why travellers should always look for the ATIA Accredited symbol when booking their travel.
“Accreditation demonstrates that a business meets strict financial, ethical and professional standards and is subject to ongoing oversight. It’s about trust, transparency and accountability, the core elements consumers deserve.
“The overwhelming majority of Australian travel businesses operate with integrity and ATIA Accreditation helps ensure those high standards are maintained and makes it really easy for consumers to know who to book their travel through.
“Anyone who is not accredited is making it difficult for consumers to find businesses they can trust, which is why we encourage all travel businesses to take immediate steps to become accredited.”
