It seems the alleged ripple effects of the latest visa and airline ticket scam has stretched further.

This time, Fijians who had bought tickets to watch Bollywood TV Series lead actress Surbhi Jyoti (known as Zoya), will have to wait a little longer.

This has come to light after Bula Events Group, an organiser that had made ticket arrangements with a Nadi-based company Go Locals Holidays, learned that the company was allegedly involved in an airline ticketing scam.

Bula Events Group director Alan Kumar said on Saturday: “Please note, due to unforeseen circumstances the Zoya live in Fiji Show has been postponed to a later date.

“Bula Events Group will update accordingly and thanks the Fijian fans for their understanding.

“I know that the case involved the artist air ticket, which we paid $14,000 with the company in Nadi which has made the news for an alleged scam. We also paid a huge amount in deposits to the artist, etc and it is now a Police case.”

Go Local Holidays manager Aleem Mohammed said the female staff member allegedly involved, aged 26, had joined the company in May 9, 2018. He said the female staff had been terminated but declined to comment any further as Police investigations continue.

Fiji Sun has been reliably informed that the suspected female staff had allegedly conducted similar misappropriation of funds with her previous employer in Suva. A stop departure has also been served to the suspect. Police spokesperson Ana Naisoro said: “Once all the statements and necessary documents are gathered then we will bring in the suspect for questioning.”

It is believed that more than 700 individuals were affected in the alleged airline ticket scam for the past few months now. The alleged scam surfaced on Friday when at least 50 frustrated victims gathered outside the Namaka Police Station in Nadi to lodge their complaint. They claimed the airline tickets and visas were bought from the Go Local Holidays office in Legalega, Nadi, but upon checking the status of the travel, no purchase of tickets were made.

Shalini Deo, who was part of the group, said she was set to leave the country on Friday at 3pm.

“We went to Go Local Holidays to purchase our tickets about a month back, but now when we called Fiji Airways to check our status, they said all bookings have been cancelled because Go Locals had not made any payments,” Ms Deo said.

Ms Deo claimed she had paid $12,000 for her tickets and visa.

Another victim, Direndra Nair, said: “I was supposed to travel to New Zealand on November 28. I paid $2600 just for my family.”

His brother-in-law, Vinal Nadan, said: “I bought my tickets from Go Local in August and I was issued a ticket, I was only informed by a friend that all tickets by Go Local was no longer valid.”

Consumer Council of Fiji chief executive Seema Shandil is urging Fijian consumers to carry out a thorough background check on all travel agents selling air tickets.

“It is advisable that consumers work with established travel agents. It would also be in the consumer’s best interest to determine whether the agency is accredited with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) by viewing the travel agents IATA ID card to avoid being duped,” Ms Shandil said.

Consumers are advised to seek the Council’s assistance and lodge complaints on the National Consumer Helpline toll-free number 155 if they are facing a similar situation.

Edited by Naisa Koroi

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