A NUMBER of airlines have fallen
victim to fraud, and have allegedly
been taken for millions of dollars
by Travel Mart – an agency based in
Johannesburg.
TNW received reports from several
airlines detailing how, in December,
there was a spike in cash tickets issued
by the agency, which then defaulted on
its Iata remittance.
Iata confirmed that Travel Mart
was suspended from the BSP in
mid-December owing to irregularities
detected in sales volumes. According
to an airline source, Travel Mart’s
guarantee was set at US$146 000. “On
December 15, ticket sales spiked to
US$2,3m in one day,” the source said.
Ethiopian Airlines was taken for
approximately R100 000, says Abel
Alemu, regional manager for Southern
Africa.
“This appears to be yet another wellorchestrated fraudulent agency default,”
says Greg Fuller, gm and director of
Holiday Aviation. “It’s most unfortunate
that the agency concerned was able to
ticket well in excess of the guarantee
amount they had lodged with Iata.
“We hope to see the end of this
practice once Iata commences the
implementation of the long-awaited
NewGen ISS programme later this year,
which will afford financial protection to
the airline industry,” says Greg.
In this instance there was little impact
on the airlines represented by Holiday
Aviation, says Greg, as most participate
in Holiday Aviation’s default insurance
programme, APG ABCS.
Travel Mart, which rented office space
in Sandton and sold tickets through
its website travelmart.co.za, launched
operations in February last year. Moyeed
Muhammad Abdul is registered on
Cipro as the company’s director. TNW
made numerous phone calls to listed
numbers, which went unanswered.
The agency’s website is no longer
available and the domain has been
parked. Telephone lines have been
disconnected. TNW visited the offices
where Travel Mart rented space. Signs
for the company are still on display in
reception but the receptionist denied
TNW access to the office upstairs,
saying the company had vacated the
premises in January. The rental agent
for the building advised that they could
not disclose any further information due
to client confidentiality clauses.
It is unclear whether the agency was
affiliated to www.travelmartindia.com
or US-based www.travelmart.com. TNW
has not received a response from these
organisations.
