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A travel agent has admitted to ripping off customers by secretly cancelling their overseas flights and pocketing the refunds.
Zahra Rachid, 54, will be sentenced in January after she pleaded guilty to eight counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception.
Rachid, who was the director of Travel World at Arncliffe, in south Sydney, booked international flights on behalf of clients but then ruined their holidays by cancelling the tickets without their knowledge.
Rachid pocketed the refunded fares as part of an elaborate scheme that netted her more than $77,000.
Many customers had no idea about the cancellations until they contacted their airline to finalise holiday details, the court heard.
One man heading to Greece for a five-week holiday didn’t find out his airfare didn’t exist until he arrived at the airport check-in counter in May last year, Nine News reported.
He paid $2,499 for a return ticket three months earlier, only for Rachid to cancel the booking the same day.
His daughter and airline employees repeatedly attempted to contact Rachid without success.
Travel agent Zahra Rachid (pictured) has admitted ripping off customers by cancelling their overseas flights
Rachid’s fraudulent scheme came undone when she was arrested in June 2024
In October 2023, another customer spent $50,000 on business class flights and accommodation for a family trip to Lebanon and Portugal.
The customer didn’t find out it had been cancelled until the following year and never got his money back.
The travel agency was struggling financially with bank account balances in the red on 837 occasions between January 2023 and June 2024, according to agreed facts tendered in court.
NSW Police established Strike Force Baile in May 2024 to investigate alleged reports from dozens of would-be travellers about Rachid.
She was arrested at a Kingsgrove unit the following month and was later charged with dozens of fraud offences.
At the time of her arrest, Rachid’s Travel World Sydney business website was still online.
‘We’ll guide you through the visa process, translate those confusing menus, and ensure you have all the insider tips to avoid tourist traps,’ it stated.
‘So, dust off your passport, break free from your boring routine, and enjoy the extraordinary with us.’
The former Travel World Sydney director will learn her fate in January
Rachid spent four months behind bars, but has been out on strict bail conditions for the last 12 months.
Of the 82 charges Rachid initially faced, 72 were later withdrawn and dismissed.
She refused to comment when confronted by a Nine News reporter outside court on Tuesday.
