Travel agent jailed for fraud
A woman has been sentenced to three years behind bars after defrauding a travel rewards platform out of nearly £500,000.
Carolyn Braithwaite plead guilty to defrauding her employer Arrivia Europe in a complex fraud scheme for three years.
She used the proceeds for her family and for online gambling.
She was sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court.
Between October 2018 through February 2021 she embezzled about £24,000 every month and deposited into dozens of different bank accounts.
Some of the proceeds were sent to her grandparents in South Africa.
The money was rerouted via more than 60 bank accounts.
She was laid off at Arrivia in 2021 and then set up an independent travel agency called Let Us Book It, which operated exclusively on Facebook.
This went into administration in 2024 leaving customers owed money.
The Arrivia fraud court case did not pursue charges relating to her travel agency and it is unclear if these customers received any money back.
Her lawyer said she was stuck in a ‘vortex of decline’ at the time due to her gambling habit.
“After a mistake had been made, you identified a route to defraud your employers, and you did, and continued for 20 months,” said Judge Martin Edmunds KC.
“The fraud was sophisticated and concealed with the use of fake emails and 63 bank accounts.”
She now faces a confiscation hearing next month.
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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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