A former travel agent must sell his house and car to compensate customers he scammed out of a Mediterranean cruise, a New Jersey judge said Thursday.
Ellis Hester pleaded guilty on Aug. 15, 2011, and at the time, Superior Court Judge Walter L. Marshall Jr. ordered him to pay $67,000 total in restitution to the 20 customers he had sold the cruise. The judge also placed him on probation for five years.
"The customers, some of whom had used Hester’s Deva Travel agency in Monroe Township NJ for years, said they felt betrayed and embarrassed, since long-time customers persuaded trusting friends to take the cruise with them," the Gloucester County prosecutor wrote in 2011. "Some were retirees who took on extra work to pay for the trip, and others were looking forward to their first travel abroad, they said." Read more...
More about New Jersey, Lifestyle, Travel Leisure, and Travel Agents
EmoticonEmoticon