First Travel promises to compensate thousands of customers scammed
Victims of one of the biggest alleged scams ever by a travel agent have been promised compensation.
The directors of Jakarta based First Travel have promised to sell all their assets to return money to an estimated 60,000 customers, their lawyer said.
Customers paid First Travel for umrah minor haj packages to Mecca last year but never received tickets.
The fraud amounted to about US$63.37 million, prosecutors said.
Assets identified include 10 cars, four offices and three houses.
Agency owner Anniesa Hasibuan, Andika Surachman and Siti Nuraidah Hasibuan have been charged with fraud, embezzlement and money laundering.
"We will check the assets first because some of them belong to other parties," general prosecutor Herry Jerman told the Depok District Court.
Luthfi Yazid, a lawyer representing some of the victims said the sale of the assets is unlikely to cover all the losses.
The case has moved the Indonesian regulator to investigate oversight of umrah travel providers and has sought information from the religious affairs ministry, foreign ministry and tourism ministry.
"We will explain the results of our investigation into the First Travel umrah scam case but we will discuss the management of umrah travel providers in Indonesia overall," said Indonesian Ombudsman member Ahmad Suaedy.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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