TICO Alert, Conviction
TICO is cautioning all travel retailers and wholesalers about accepting bookings from an individual using the name Carolyn (Michelle) Solomon and/or Blue Mountain Travel or Business & Vacation Travel Planners.
The travel agency, located at 1672 Jane St., 2nd Floor. in Toronto terminated its TICO registration to operate on July 31.
Solomon (Michelle) has continued to present herself as a travel agent to make bookings (online and over the telephone) using third party credit cards. TICO has charged Solomon with one count of operating as a travel agent without registration, contrary to the Travel Industry Act.
Reported incidents relate to air only bookings mainly to Grenada, Jamaica and other Caribbean destinations.
TICO recommends that registrants be extremely cautious when accepting bookings. If you are suspicious about a booking, TICO recommends that you ensure that the travel agency is registered with TICO (if located in Ontario) and/or contact the travel agency to confirm whether the travel agent attempting to make the booking is actually employed by that agency.
If your business has been accepting bookings from this individual, contact TICO at 1-888-451-8426 or via e-mail at [email protected]
In other news, as a result of an ex-parte trial, Amigo Travel Ltd. (Amigo Travel), Mirta Zamora and Esterlina Coyant (collectively the “Defendants”) have been convicted of seven counts each of failure to deposit customer funds into the trust account, contrary to the Travel Industry Act.
The Ontario Travel Industry Compensation Fund paid a total of $65,069.57 to consumers who suffered financial losses as a result of the Defendants’ actions.
Zamora and Coyant, directors and officers of Amigo Travel, each received the following sentence: 60-day jail sentence, on each count, served consecutively, for a total of 420 days of incarceration; $15,000 fine plus a Victim Surcharge Fee, for a total of $18,750, on each count. The total fine on seven counts equals $131,250, for each individual; Zamora and Coyant were given a year to pay the fine.
Amigo Travel was sentenced to a fine of $250,000 plus Victim Surcharge Fee, for a total of $312,500 on Count No. 1 and was given one year to pay the fine; suspended sentence for Counts No. 2-7.
