Travel agent arrested

Beach Umbrella_20090813140941_JPG

Large Map
  • Also on WPRI.com
RI to get $172M in housing relief
RI to get $172M in housing relief

A major mortgage foreclosure settlement across the country has …

Truth behind Instant tax refunds
Truth behind Instant tax refunds

The Rhode Island Attorney General's office announced that the …

AG's office investigating bridal salon
AG's office investigating bridal salon

The Rhode Island Attorney General's Office is actively looking …

CFA: Cell phone shut-off risks
CFA: Cell phone shut-off risks

Local woman calls for help after her mother in-laws cell phone …

Bridal salon breaking vows on gowns
Bridal salon breaking vows on gowns

Local brides, calling for help: They claim a West Warwick …

Advertisement

Travel agent arrested, felony charges

Agent took customers money but never booked trips

Updated: Tuesday, 20 Oct 2009, 6:12 PM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 20 Oct 2009, 5:00 PM EDT

NORTH SMITHFIELD, R.I. (WPRI) - A North Smithfield travel agent is arrested and charged for taking customers money, but never booking their trips.

You know how excited you get right before your big vacation. But imagine the outrage, when you find out your travel agent never booked your trip! It happened to a number of people, and authorities say, there are probably even more.

Scott and Amy Hingley of Pascoag can't believe it.

"I don't understand how this could happen."

Holly Orlando of North Smithfield can't believe it either.

"I'm in North Smithfield and I should be in Florida with my daughter."

All three of them are supposed to be on their vacations. But instead, they're chasing down their travel agent who they say, took their money, but never booked their trips.

"She called Wednesday and I was expecting an itinerary, but instead she told me the vacation was cancelled," said Orlando.

They've all been trying to reach the owner of Travelin' Time, Barbara Lavergne. But her store is now closed. And she is not returning calls. No one answered the door at Lavergne's home in Burrillville.

The travel agent may not be responding to her customers, but she will have to respond to authorities. That's because the attorney general now has her case and she's been charged with two felony counts.

While authorities investigate these latest complaints, Barbara Lavergne has already been arrested and charged in two other cases. She was charged with obtaining money under false pretenses totaling close to $10,000 dollars.

"What we are looking for is to make these people whole. You can't run with their money and if you do we and the police will find you and we have," said A.G. Patrick Lynch.

Lynch says there are 9 complaints in all and he expects even more. If you have a trip booked with this company, you should contact the attorney general's office to file a formal complaint.

In the meantime, Barbara Lavergne is due in court next week.
 


Ground rules for posting comments: No profanity or personal attacks. Please comment on the subject of the story itself. If you do not follow these rules, we will remove your post. Keep it civil, folks!

Our commenting section is powered by IntenseDebate. If you registered for an account but didn't receive a verification e-mail, check your spam folder or click here for more information. For additional technical help, click here.

 

Advertisement
Advertisement