Unlicensed travel agent in S’pore jailed for pocketing S$35,000 from customers for trips to India, Dubai

• S Leelavadi promised customers she could book trips to India and Dubai for them
• One group handed over $15,000, while an elderly woman paid S$2,400
• When the trips were about to begin, she would ask them to postpone or cancel, or simply not show up 
• She has paid full restitution to the victims

SINGAPORE — A 55-year-old woman was sentenced to 20 weeks’ jail on Tuesday (Aug 10) for misappropriating almost S$35,000 from customers who had paid her for tour packages that never materialised.

S Leelavadi, who worked as a freelance travel agent for over a decade, did not have the requisite licence to do so.

She cheated at least eight victims over 19 fake trips to India and the city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, including an 82-year-old woman, and used the money for her personal expenses.

The Singaporean pleaded guilty earlier this year to one criminal breach of trust charge and two counts of practising as a travel agent without a licence from the Singapore Tourism Board.

Seven other similar charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.

Leelavadi will not begin serving her sentence immediately as she intends to file an appeal.

The court heard that she began working as a freelance travel agent sometime in 2000, only stopping for a few months in 2004 when she joined a licensed travel agency.

When she struck out on her own, she told customers that she could book tours for them to India and Dubai. She advised them on how to travel there, where to stay and their itinerary, and gave them a quotation for their desired tour.

They would then pay her a S$500 deposit which she said was necessary to make the relevant bookings. She directed them to make payments in cash or through a bank transfer to her mother’s bank account.

In the months before the departure date, she would chase them for the balance payments while sending them itineraries and advising them on various aspects of their trips, such as insurance, currency exchange and local tours.

Whenever the date of departure drew close or had passed and the trips did not materialise, she would lie to the customers that her mother was hospitalised or in the intensive care unit, so that they would postpone the trip or accept a refund.

When customers pressed her for the plane tickets so they could go on their own, she would say she could not provide them.

She ended up pocketing S$34,950 from eight victims between 2013 and 2017.

ONE GROUP PAID MORE THAN S$15,000

One such victim, Madam Muniyandi Karuppayee, was 82 years old at the time and lived in a rental flat.

When they met at an Indian sari shop in 2017, Leelavadi offered to arrange a tour to Kasi, India for her for S$2,400.

The shop owner advised Mdm Karuppayee not to go due to her health issues, but Leelavadi told him not to worry and reassured him that she would take care of the elderly woman.

After Mdm Karuppayee paid her a deposit of S$1,000, Leelavadi kept chasing the shop owner to ask the older woman for the balance payment of S$1,400.

The shop owner then transferred the money on Mdm Karuppayee’s behalf to Leelavadi’s mother’s account.

On the planned date of the trip, Mdm Karuppayee packed her luggage and waited for Leelavadi to give her a lift to the airport. Leelavadi did not turn up and did not pick up the shop owner’s calls.

Two days later, she called back and claimed her mother had been hospitalised. She was unable to show any proof that she had even booked flight tickets for the trip.

That same year, Leelavadi also offered to arrange a seven-day tour to Dubai for eight people. The group paid her a total of S$15,450.

The day before the trip, she asked them to postpone it, saying her mother had suffered a sudden heart attack that morning. She separately told one of them that the trip had to be cancelled as she was required to attend a court hearing soon.

As of mid-last year, Leelavadi had made full restitution to her victims.

For criminal breach of trust, she could have been jailed for up to seven years or fined, or both.

For working as an unlicensed travel agent, she could have been jailed for up to two years or fined up to S$10,000, or both.