Travel agent sought in fraud, theft case
A National City travel agency has defrauded nearly a dozen customers of an estimated $11,000, and the owner is missing, police said Thursday.
Investigators are looking for Ernesto Arbulante, 64, owner of Elvie’s Boutique and Travel on Eighth Street, National City police Sgt. Alex Hernandez said.
He said Arbulante is suspected of accepting money for flights to the Philippines, but not delivering valid airline tickets. One family even got stranded in the Philippines when they found out they were short one or two return tickets, Hernandez said.
Investigators are looking into 11 cases of alleged fraud and grand theft, with a total loss of $11,000 to the customers. They believe there may be other cases, Hernandez said.
The Better Business Bureau website says Elvie’s Boutique and Travel opened for business in 2009, with Arbulante as the sole owner, and that the bureau has received six customer complaints about the company. It was given an “F” rating.
The state Attorney General’s website for licensed travel agencies in California has no listing for Elvie’s.
Hernandez said the investigation started on July 15 when police went to the business to handle an argument between the owner and a customer. The customer claimed to have paid in advance for airline tickets to the Philippines that the agency never ordered.
An investigation is continuing. Other victims may call Detective Tom DiZinno at (619) 336-4473.
Online customer review site Yelp shows several reviews highly critical of Elvie’s. Several people in postings this year and in 2012 complained that they paid cash or with personal checks for tickets to the Philippines, but airlines told them they had no reservations.
The reviewers claimed that when they called the company, they were issued new itineraries which also were not valid.
Last month, one person posted a note about going to the travel agency earlier in the year to resolve a ticket issue and found several other people there to demand refunds.
National City police advises anyone working with a travel agency to check with the Better Business Bureau and for online reviews, to use credit cards rather than cash, and to validate all airline and hotel bookings before the travel date.
