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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Fraud charges rack up against travel agent

By: Gabrielle Giroday

Posted: 08/26/2010 1:00 AM

A city travel agent is accused of bilking more than 60 customers out of fees they paid for travel that didn't materialize.

The alleged fraud first came to light in February after Elma Sangalang Quizon, 29, was arrested. Police said Wednesday they laid many new fraud charges against Quizon, who operated Mabuhay Travel on Sheppard Street.

The company's phone number no longer works.

Police said former clients haven't recovered more than $200,000 the agent allegedly took from them between January 2007 and March 2010.

"I thought it was pathetic because she was a family friend," said Ashley Amarila, 22, who paid to fly on a return-trip from Winnipeg to Manila last February, along with her mother. "It's her that needs the help, not us.... She ruined her family name."

She said when they arrived at the Winnipeg airport they found out there were problems, and she subsequently had to spend another $2,000 to get back to Winnipeg from Manila.

She said the worst part was that she'd saved hard-earned money to give her 17-year-old cousin in the Philippines tuition money, but he had to delay his studies after money she'd promised him had to be spent getting home.

To this day, she hasn't received any money back.

"We never really heard anything about it after," she said.

Winnipeg Police Service spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshen said commercial crime unit investigators have been toiling over the case, which affected not only individual customers but other businesses.

He said the impact of the false flight bookings were "pretty unfortunate" for a "lot of people." Police learned about the case after a victim alerted them, said Michalyshen, and more came forward later.

Quizon was originally charged with 15 fraud offences. After further investigation, she faces 46 more charges for fraud under $5,000, 13 charges of fraud over $5,000 and eight charges of fraud -- use of credit card data.

On Monday, police arrested her again on the second round of charges. She was released on a promise to appear. Quizon is currently going through a divorce with her husband, said a relative of the man. The couple has a seven-year-old son, the man said.

gabrielle.giroday@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 26, 2010 B2

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