A travel agent sold bogus Mecca pilgrimage travel packages to Muslim customers who lost thousands of pounds after he cancelled the trips at the last minute, a court has heard.
Hasib Chowdhury, 50, is accused of ‘making false representations’ to customers from his Zamana Travels unit in Yardley by taking payments without booking flights, accommodation or applying for visas.
Hajj is an annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia and is considered to be a once in a lifetime religious obligation for those of Islam faith.
Chowdhury, of Coventry, stands trial at Birmingham Crown Court where he denies a single offence of fraudulent trading between 2017 and 2018.
Mark Jackson, prosecuting on behalf of Birmingham City Council trading standards, said: ‘In July 2017 trading standards officers visited the business and spoke to the defendant. He told officers he was no longer trading as a travel agent. We say he wasn’t being honest with the officers.’
Hasib Chowdhury, 50, is accused of taking payments without booking flights, accommodation or applying for visas
He told the court analysis of his ‘various’ bank accounts demonstrated he had been taking money from customers including sums of £3,000 and £2,000 from different people in December that year.
Mr Jackson continued: ‘He’s taking thousands and thousands and thousands of pounds off people and he provided them with no service, no flights, no hotels, no nothing and he kept their cash.
‘Some of them got some money back in dribs and drabs, mostly after he was before the court.’
Explaining the significance of the Hajj pilgrimage, he added: ‘It is one of the five pillars of Islam. It is one of the five key acts a Muslim is expected to do in their lifetime if they are physically able and can afford to do so. It is a religious obligation to do so. Perhaps for that reason places for Hajj are limited and sought after.
‘Hotel accommodation in Saudi Arabia is in great demand. Accordingly each complainant handed over significant sums of money seeking to undertake the pilgrimage which is a pillar of importance to their faith.’
The jury was told the defendant was not an ATOL (Air Travel Organisers’ License) holder and was not providing packages on behalf of an ATOL holder, which is a legal requirement for anyone selling travel packages including flights.
Mr Jackson stated the main issue in the case was Chowdhury’s ‘explanation’ for what happened with customers. He said: ‘We say it’s dishonest through and through. I’m being polite about it. He will say it wasn’t. It was an unfortunate set of circumstances.’
Muslims circle the Kaaba and pray during Umrah, at the Grand Mosque, in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia
The prosecutor summarised individual complainant’s cases starting with one customer who allegedly agreed to pay £11,000 for a ‘five star’ Hajj package for himself and his wife.
Mr Jackson stated on August 10, 2018 – four days before departure – Chowdhury informed the complainant his visa had been rejected but ‘didn’t provide an explanation’.
He said: ‘The reason there was no visa is because there was no flight, no hotel, no nothing. All there was was £11,000 of this couple’s money lining his pocket.’
Mr Jackson stated Chowdhury offered to meet the complainant on the day before the expected departure, stay with him and be his personal guide for the trip but did not show up.
He told the court the complainant was then included in a WhatsApp group of around 20 people which received a message confirming the Hajj trip had been cancelled.
It was alleged the text from the defendant apologised for the ‘delay in contacting you and miscommunication’ before stating that visas had not been authorised and that the issue was being ‘directly’ taken up with the Saudi Arabian embassy.
The court was told that Chowdhury’s message promised to return passports and provide full refunds in a matter of days.
Mr Jackson stated the defendant sought to blame the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah for ‘messing him about’ and another person for ‘doing a runner with passports’. He described Chowdhury as a ‘confidence trickster’ and said: ‘Tens of thousands of pounds.
‘Making false representations. That’s a polite legal way of saying lying. Lying to people. Milking them for cash then at the very last minute when their bags are packed and they’ve had their Meningitis jabs, they are going nowhere. It’s a scam from beginning to end.’