Whistle-blower loses her job

A CONSULTANT from One
for Travel Services, who
raised the alarm with a
client about his booking falling
through, has lost her job.
Last week TNW reported
that fraud charges had been
laid against owner of the
agency, Fatima Jossub.
The consultant worked
for One for Travel Services
for about a year before the
company was sold to Fatima
in August. The consultant said
one of the conditions of sale
included a clause where the
existing staff members would
be retained for a minimum
period of three months at
their current salaries.
Once Fatima took over,
things started to change. A
couple of client complaints
came through where suppliers
had not been paid or tickets
had not been issued. As
more instances of stranded
clients started to emerge, the
consultant started to do some
research on Fatima. While
Fatima had initially managed
the company complaints by
paying for the services when
the clients called to complain,
by November she had stopped
taking many client calls and
also stopped making an effort
to pay for services.
The consultant’s salary was
not paid on October 25 and
when payment was finally
made in early November
she received about half of
what was owed to her. She
repeatedly tried to contact
Fatima to ask about her
salary and to confirm if she
still had a job but Fatima
refused to take her calls.
When Brian Lee contacted
Fatima that same week,
concerned about lack of
correspondence relating to
his booking, Fatima avoided
him, directing him to the
consultant. On November 7,
the consultant alerted Brian
to the fact that she was aware
that previous charges of fraud
had been laid against Fatima
by other clients who had
made bookings with her.
The consultant heard from
a client that she had lost her
job rather than from the owner
of the company.
The consultant is currently
updating her CV and is
looking for a job. Where
possible, she is also still
trying to assist clients who
continue to contact her about
their trips. “I have never been
in a situation like this before.
Now every call that comes
through from a client is a
complaint about how their
holiday bookings have not
been honoured,” she said.
TNW tried to contact Fatima
on her work and personal
numbers but was unable to
get hold of her. The consultant
asked not to be named for
fear of reprisal.