They investigate an alleged scam by a travel agency in Catalonia that affects 80 people

The Mossos d'Esquadra are investigating an alleged fraud committed by a travel agency in Vilanova i la Geltrú (Barcelona), which sold flights and hotel stays that it never contracted and affects some eighty people, twenty of whom are already They have formalized a complaint at the police station.

As reported to EFE by sources from the Mossos d'Esquadra, the owner of this agency would have allegedly charged those affected for some trips that she never contracted, such as flights and hotels.

The aforementioned sources have explained that the amount allegedly defrauded would amount to about 60,000 euros for the moment.. As of today, more than twenty people have already filed a complaint at the police station, although the Mossos estimate that there would be another fifty citizens affected by this alleged scam..

The investigation is being carried out by the Mossos d'Esquadra de Vilanova i la Geltrú police station, which is compiling all the information on the case.

The victims have created a WhatsApp group under the name 'Affected FG Viajes' to coordinate their defensive strategy and have placed their case in the hands of a law firm.

One of those affected, Sara, explained to EFE TV that she had booked a trip with this agency, from which she had received good references from other clients, to celebrate her son's 18th birthday as a “special gift”, and for which has paid more than 2,000 euros.

After making a first payment in March for this trip, Sara recounts that when it came to paying the second part of the cost of the trip, it was all excuses from the owner, after which she asked for the documentation, which she has not received: “I don't even have the locators” neither of the flights nor of the hotels, says this affected, who assures that the whole issue is “very painful”.

Sara adds that she has called the airline and that her family is not among the passengers at their requested destination and that the flight that this agency supposedly contracted, now investigated for fraud, does not even exist..

A young couple, Verónica and Sergi, have confirmed that they already traveled with this agency without problems in 2018. This year, in January, they hired a trip to Kenya that they began to pay month by month, and when there were a few weeks left to travel to this African country, they contacted the agency for the processing of entry visas, because they did not have any type of documentation.

So, Verónica and Sergi explain, the owner of the house began to delay or not get on the phone..

This couple's trip began on August 1, so, before it was imminent, they went to the agency and, to their surprise, found that it had been closed for days: “From one night to the next – the owner – stopped answering”, says Sergi, who has already filed a complaint with the Mossos.

“There are people who had booked honeymoon trips, families with children, couples like us… all kinds of trips and all kinds of budgets, many of us are affected,” Verónica and Sergi underline..

The lawyer for those affected, Eric Ventura, explained that once they studied case by case, since some people have not been able to make the trip while others, for example, have found themselves at the destination that did not have the hotel contracted and paid for and have had to pay for another stay out of pocket, they will resort to justice through civil or criminal proceedings, in the latter case with a joint complaint, to purify responsibilities.

He has said that the victims have been observing actions that are not typical of a business such as a travel agency for months, such as working with half the blinds down, without light.. “It is strange that a travel agency works in such an opaque way,” adds the lawyer.

Later, in a very short period of time, clients of the agency began to emerge who could not travel, since either they did not have the travel documentation or they could not contact the owner, or the services at the destination were not those contracted.. Subsequently, the lawyer continues, the agency went from working with half the blind closed to lowering it completely.

The people affected went to this law firm that is in front of the travel agency because they felt cheated or were “victims of a hoax”, for which a joint platform has been created to compensate this damage..