A Fairfield journey agent has been sentenced to 9 years behind bars for defrauding members of the South Asian group in Northern California, state prosecutors stated Friday.
Iqbal Singh Randhawa stole a complete of $147,617, in keeping with a criticism by California Legal professional Normal Rob Bonta. Randhawa, a former Fairfield council candidate who goes by Paul, is listed as president of M&Okay Journey Companies Inc. in his LinkedIn profile.
Between 2017 and 2020, greater than a dozen victims employed Randhawa to buy airline tickets, paying him between $1,100 and $12,000 every, prosecutors stated. As an alternative of shopping for the tickets, Randhawa supplied fraudulent itineraries and stole the funds.
Randhawa additionally dedicated over $89,000 in bank card fraud, utilizing stolen credit score info to purchase legit airline tickets and promoting them to paying prospects “to keep his travel agency afloat,” the legal professional common’s workplace stated.
After two trials, he was discovered responsible of 11 felony counts of grand theft by embezzlement and two felony counts of violating the Vendor of Journey legal guidelines, prosecutors stated.
The courtroom additionally discovered a number of aggravating elements, together with the vulnerability of the victims, the numerous monetary losses concerned, and the “callous” nature of Randhawa’s conduct, the legal professional common’s workplace stated.
