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NEWARK
– The Attorney General’s Office
and the Division of Consumer Affairs have
filed a Consumer Fraud Act suit against
a Woodbridge travel agency that sold travel
packages for religious pilgrimages to Mecca
in Saudi Arabia that were never provided.
The
state’s four-count complaint was filed
in State Superior Court in Middlesex County
against Shama Hajj Ziyarat Tours, L.L.C.,
also doing business as Karwan-E-Iman-E-Sajjad
(USA), and its owner, Molana Syed Alihaider
Abidi. The travel agency is located at 104
Second Street in Woodbridge.
Throughout
2006, the defendants advertised and sold
the Hajj Travel Package, which was represented
to include round-trip airfare from John
F. Kennedy International Airport to Saudi
Arabia as well as hotel accommodations and
transportation within Saudi Arabia. More
than 50 consumers each paid in excess of
$4,500 for the trip, with some consumers
paying an additional $1,000 for purportedly
upgraded hotel accommodations.
The
consumers were to depart from JFK Airport
on December 20, 2006 and return from Saudi
Arabia on January 4, 2007. Upon arriving
at JFK Airport for their departure flight,
consumers learned that there were no airline
tickets purchased for them. During the period
of December 22 to 24, 2006, defendants told
consumers that the trip was cancelled.
“We
are seeking restitution for consumers who
suffered both financially and emotionally,’‘
Attorney General Anne Milgram said. “These
last minute cancellations without explanation
cost consumers thousands of dollars and
prevented them from making a pilgrimage
to Mecca.’‘
As
part of the division’s action, the
court has granted a request for a temporary
restraining order to prohibit the defendants
from advertising and selling travel packages
to Mecca; from disposing of any assets,
including monies paid by consumers for travel
packages to Mecca; and from disposing of
books and records. The state is seeking
to make the order permanent.
“We
are aware that this travel agency is advertising
and selling a December 2007 travel package
to Mecca. Given the company’s cancellation
of the 2006 trip and failure to provide
refunds, we are seeking to stop the advertisement
and sale of the 2007 trip,” said Acting
Consumer Affairs Director Larry DeMarzo.
The
state’s complaint alleges that the
defendants violated the Consumer Fraud Act
and General Advertising Regulations by the
following:
-
Increasing the price of the 2006 Hajj
Travel Package without explanation;
-
Accepting payment for the 2006 Hajj Travel
Package and then failing to provide consumers
with the trip to Mecca;
-
Upon cancellation of the 2006 Hajj Travel
Package, leading consumers to believe
that alternative travel arrangements were
being made;
-
Failing to provide consumers with advance
notice that the 2006 Hajj Travel Package
had been cancelled, to permit consumers
to make their own alternative arrangements
for the trip to Mecca;
-
Promising, then failing to provide consumers
with complete refunds following cancellation
of the 2006 Hajj Travel Package; and
-
Failing to disclose to consumers that
the purchase price would not be refunded
if the 2006 Hajj Travel Package was cancelled.
By
its complaint, the state seeks restitution
for affected consumers, maximum civil penalties,
reimbursement of its attorneys’ fees
and costs and compliance with the Consumer
Fraud Act.
The
Consumer Fraud Act provides for a civil
penalty of up to $10,000 for the initial
violation and up to $20,000 for each subsequent
violation.
Deputy
Attorney General Jeffrey Koziar is representing
the state in this matter.
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