Travel firm fined second time for ATOL fraud
A London-based tour operator has been fined more than £12,000 for organising package holidays to the annual Hajj pilgrimage without the correct financial protection.
It is the second time Al Kabir Travels & Tours, based in New Road, Whitechapel, has been fined for selling trips without an ATOL.
The firm was ordered to pay fines and costs totaling £12,644 by Thames Magistrates Court after being found guilty of two consumer protection offences on January 7.
It was previously fined £9,606 last August by Birmingham Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to four offences under Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations. It admitted falsely claiming that it had an ATOL licence and it admitted that it did not own a hotel in Makkah as it had claimed on its website alkabirtravel.com.
The London court ruled that Al Kabir Travels did not ensure the financial protection of 120 pilgrims who booked trips to Saudi Arabia for last year’s Hajj pilgrimage, which put it in breach of the Package Travel Holidays and Package Tours Regulations and part of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations.
The swoop on the East London firm followed a nationwide investigation into Hajj fraud instigated by City of London Police and Birmingham City Council Trading Standards.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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