South Bay travel agent found guilty for stealing $200K, not booking trips to Hawaii

SAN JOSE – A South Bay travel agent has been convicted after she collected $200,000 from customers and failed to book their trips, prosecutors said.

According to the Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office, Wendy Wong pleaded no contest last week to charges of failing to return money for travel services not provided and illegally withdrawing from client trust accounts.

Prosecutors said Wong, a former Milpitas resident, operated a business called House of Aloha Hawaii. The business closed in August of 2019 after what was described as a “long line” of victims came forward to report that their vacation plans were ruined and money was missing.

“The defendant abused her position of trust and disrupted the lives of many families in our community,” Deputy District Attorney Tamalca Harris said.  “We are grateful to the victims who came forward.”

The District Attorney’s office said Wong will be able to avoid jail time and be sentenced to two years’ probation if she pays $155,000 in restitution requested by customers ahead of sentencing.

If Wong does not pay restitution ahead of her sentencing on November 4, she will receive a sentence of two years, consisting of one year in county jail and one year of mandatory supervision.

According to prosecutors, while sellers of travel in California are required to register with the state Attorney General’s Office, Wong was not registered. Consumers can check to see if a seller is registered by visiting https://oag.ca.gov/travel.