Travel agent faces 100 days in jail for giving fake airline bookings to customers in Ontario

An Ontario travel agent was sentenced to 100 days in jail after providing fake airline bookings to customers.

Jie Yu (Jenny) Ai and World Travel Inc. were found guilty of 11 charges in October, the Travel Industry Council of Ontario, Ontario’s travel regulator, said in a press release.

The Ontario Court of Justice found that Jenny Ai, the sole director, officer and supervisor/manager at World Travel Inc. accepted money from customers to book airline tickets but used these funds for other purposes, the Travel Industry Council of Ontario said.

The airline tickets were not booked, and the customers were presented with falsified booking documents, the council said.

World Travel Inc. was convicted of four counts of failing to hold money collected from customers for travel services in a trust account; two counts of furnishing false information or documents; and two counts of operating as a travel agent without registration.

Ai was convicted of three counts of being an officer and director of a corporation and failing to take reasonable care to prevent the corporation from committing an offence.

She was sentenced to 100 days in jail, and received a two-year probation order, which includes making restitution payments totalling $32,350.

World Travel Inc. received a suspended sentence and a two-year probation.

World Travel Inc. was previously a Travel Industry Council of Ontario-registered travel agency in Toronto. Its registration under the Travel Industry Act, 2002 was suspended on Nov. 1, 2022, and revoked effective Feb. 24, 2023.

Ai continued to operate World Travel Inc. and sell travel services after its Travel Industry Council of Ontario registration was revoked, the council said.

The Travel Industry Council of Ontario prosecutes unregistered companies and individuals to maintain a level playing field and the integrity of Ontario’s travel marketplace to ensure consumers are confident purchasing travel from registered professionals.

For more information see their website here.