FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2005

QUEENS TRAVEL AGENT CHARGED WITH INTERNET WEBSITE SCAM

Customers Paid $200,000 For International Airline Tickets That Were Never Delivered

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, joined by New York City Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly and United States Postal Inspection Service Postal Inspector-in-Charge, NY Division, Ron Walker, announced today that a Queens travel agent who operates several travel websites advertising cheap airfares has been charged with defrauding consumers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars for trips to Europe, Asia, Africa and other international destinations that they paid for but for which they never received tickets.

District Attorney Brown said, “The defendant is accused of ripping off nearly eighty on-line consumers by stealing their money and their dream vacations. Many of these people no doubt saved and planned for their trips for a long time only to discover at the last minute that they had no reservations. Based on the growing number of complaints being lodged by angry consumers nationwide against the defendant on various Internet travel forums, we are probably looking at just the tip of the iceberg. Consumers should be aware that in exchange for the convenience of the Internet in making travel plans they also may be unwittingly opening their front doors to schemers and grifters. Our investigation is continuing.”

Police Commissioner Kelly said, “The NYPD is committed to protecting all New Yorkers from criminals who utilize a variety of schemes to defraud the public. The suspect arrested today set up an elaborate enterprise that victimized over 80 innocent victims. I want to congratulate the NYPD Detectives, particularly those from the Identity Theft Squad, for their outstanding work in bringing this individual to justice.”

Postal Inspector-in-Charge Walker said, “The defendant’s alleged actions illustrate the growing use of the internet to defraud the American public. His web of deceit snarled many unsuspecting victims. But thanks to the tireless efforts of postal inspectors, NYPD detectives and the Queen’s District Attorney’s office he’ll be going from spending his time hiding behind his computer to serving time behind bars.”

The District Attorney identified the defendant as Jagdeep S. Pujji (also known as Jack Pujji and J.S. Pujji), of 133-24 Sanford Avenue and 43-70 Kissena Boulevard, both in Flushing. Pujji is being held pending arraignment in Queens Criminal Court on the charges of Grand Larceny in the Second, Third and Fourth Degrees, Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree and Petit Larceny. If convicted, he faces up to fifteen years in prison.

The District Attorney said that detectives assigned to the District Attorney’s NYPD Detective Squad and Postal Inspectors executed court-authorized search warrants at three locations: 43-70 Kissena Boulevard and 133-24 Sanford Avenue, in Queens, and at 29 Jane Street in Roslyn Heights, Long Island, the residence of one of the websites’ registered owner. During the execution of the search warrants the defendant was taken into custody.

The defendant allegedly operated several Internet travel agency sites from his home – such as lowestairfarefinder.com, abfcorp.com and cheapestdiscountairlinetickets.com. Typically, once a consumer made their travel arrangements, the defendant would allegedly offer a discount of several hundred dollars if the consumer paid by check within two to three days instead of by credit card.

According to the complaint, for a fourteen-month period ending in October 2004, the defendant engaged in a scheme to defraud nearly eighty customers out of more than $200,000 by cashing their checks – averaging between $900 and $6,600 – and failing to provide the promised travel arrangements.

In one case, for example, Kumudu Kuruttu on October 25, 2004, purchases a trip to Sri Lanka from Boston, Massachusetts, through lowestairfarefinder.com for $1,570. Mr. Kuruttu was instructed via e-mail to mail a check for the total amount to the defendant’s residence, apartment 4J at 133-24 Sanford Avenue in Queens, which he did. The check was cashed but Mr. Kuruttu never received any airline tickets in return.

In another case, Richard Leary, on March 1, 2004, purchased a trip to Kiev, Ukraine, through lowestairfarefinder.com from the defendant for $6,653. Mr. Leary was instructed to send a check for the full amount of the trip to the defendant’s other residence, apartment 8K at 43-70 Kissena Boulevard, Queens. Mr. Leary did as instructed but did not receive any tickets even though his check was cashed.

The investigation was conducted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Neil F. Gitin of the Queens District Attorney’s Office’s Economic Crimes Bureau, Detective Thomas Luberto of the Identity Theft Squad of the New York City Police Department, and Inspector Richard DeLisio of the United States Postal Inspectors Service.

The investigation began with complains received by Det. Luberto, then assigned to the 109th Squad in Flushing. Det. Luberto continued working on the investigation when he was transferred to the new NYPD Identity Theft Squad, which is combined with the Special Frauds Squad. At the same time, Inspector Delisio was conducting a parallel investigation for the U.S. Postal Inspectors Service and during the course of the investigation contacted Det. Luberto and the Queens District Attorney’s Office.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Neil F. Gitin of the District Attorney’s Economic Crimes Bureau, prosecuted the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Gregory C. Pavlides, Bureau Chief, and Diane M. Peress, Deputy Bureau Chief, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Peter A. Crusco and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Linda M. Cantoni.