Flight Ticket Scammer sentenced
A scammer who sold bogus flight tickets has been sentenced at Dudley Magistrates Court after pleading guilty.
Muhammed Awais Raja from Hilton Grove, Shipley, West Yorkshire was part of scam flight ticket provider trading as Sunshine Travels. This scam targeted consumers via Facebook, offering flights to Pakistan.
The court heard how in 2020, a complaint was received from a Dudley consumer who had responded to an advert on Facebook for Sunshine Travels, and subsequently received a call and purchased airline eTickets. Five return tickets from Birmingham to Pakistan were offered for £1848, the actual amount paid by the consumer was £1197 plus the exchange of tickets already purchased from PIA (Pakistan International Airways). The customer made a bank transfer for £1197 to an account he believed was M.A. Sunshine Ltd.
It was only when he attempted to call the company to enquire about the purchase of an additional ticket, and could not make contact that he became suspicious. After contacting the airline directly, he discovered that the eTicket numbers quoted related to tickets issued in other passenger names.
A further online search for Sunshine Travels, revealed that the individual and email address he had dealt with on facebook was not the genuine Sunshine Travels.
Enquiries made by Trading Standards revealed that the monies paid were transferred to Raja’s personal account. Raja told trading standards that he had no connection with Sunshine Travels and had no knowledge of the matter and claimed that the personal account in his name was opened fraudulently by an unknown person.
Trading standards also identified further victims of this scam, of which one became a witness in the investigation.
Raja attended Dudley Magistrates Court on Wednesday 17 July 2024, where he pleaded to two theft charges and one charge for money laundering.
During sentencing the court said that Raja did not co-operate with the investigation. He decided his need for the money was greater than the victims. The loss was not just money, as there was a chance the victims could have also turned up to the airport and paid for long stay parking with worthless tickets.
Raja was sentenced to 48 weeks in imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, 150 hours community service and placed on a curfew for 3 months.
Raja was also ordered to pay £2,287.00 in compensation, £156 victim surcharge and £3000 in costs.
Councillor James Clinton, cabinet member for public health, said:
“We do not tolerate scammers in this borough and our trading standards team will actively pursue complaints of this nature wherever possible. It doesn’t matter where the criminal is based, in this case Yorkshire. If one of our residents is affected, we will look to take action.
“Not only do these scams impact the lives of our residents, but legitimate businesses can also suffer by association. The service is here to protect innocent customers and businesses”