Ontario woman posed as travel agent, duped clients of over $240K: police
Posted July 10, 2023 3:17 pm.
Last Updated July 10, 2023 3:18 pm.
An Ontario woman has been charged in a significant fraud case after she allegedly posed as a travel agent and pocketed the cash of several victims.
Durham Regional Police said the 43-year-old woman fraudulently sold vacations, and investigators opened a case in 2020 following reports that the accused was impersonating a travel agent and was “kiting.”
Police defined “kiting” as a type of fraud in the travel industry, where an agent collects money payments from clients and doesn’t apply the cash to the client’s vacation but rather pockets the funds.
The woman allegedly posed as a travel agent for many years, from 2011 until 2019. Police said she used a falsified Travel Industry Council of Ontario (TICO) certificate and defrauded multiple travel agencies of more than $245,000.
Police also said the accused operated her own travel business called “Travel Girl Inc.” and has used over 21 aliases. The woman claims to specialize in group travel and destination weddings.
Tarcia Craig Brown, 43, of Whitby, faces several charges, including four counts of fraud exceeding $5,000, four counts of using a computer to commit a computer offence, four counts of intercepting computer functions, four counts of unauthorized use of credit card data, five counts of forgery, and six counts of uttering forged documents.
She was released on an undertaking.
