Asata CEO, Otto de Vries, has reacted to the news of suspected rogue agent, Lorraine Eloff (also known as Fourie) being formally charged in court with fraud – read the story here.
Said De Vries: “This is a big issue for all of us, because we are not a regulated industry and this sort of behaviour brings the industry into disrepute.”
The agent in this case was not an Asata member.
De Vries said those agents who allowed ticketing by sub-agents needed to be aware of the huge risks and they needed to take precautions to mitigate that risk.
“There has been a proliferation of sub-agents. But it’s incumbent upon the principal agent to vet these people properly before going ahead and allowing them to ticket.”
De Vries said he believed the issues around the accused agent were more and bigger than what had been revealed in court so far. “We know there are more complainants. We encourage all parties affected to come forward and lay charges.”
Priority Escapes
Meanwhile, as this edition of Travel News went to press, another party accused of bringing disrepute upon the travel industry has been arrested. In a case unrelated to the above, the alleged "Holiday Swindler", Francois Swart, was arrested in Modimolle on December 28. It's alleged that Swart defrauded consumers out of hundreds of thousands of Rands by taking their money for Maldives holidays and failing to book airfares or pay for accommodation. He is also accused of issuing false documents. See the previous Travel News story here.
Shortly before his arrest, the National Consumer Commission (NCC) is reported to have ordered a freeze on the bank accounts of Swart and his company, Priority Escapes, of which he is MD.
It's understood that Swart was granted bail, under still unknown conditions.
Swart is due to appear in the Court again on February 23.
