Hawaii travel agent pleads guilty in Bay Area scam
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A Hawaii travel agent formerly from Milpitas has pleaded guilty after defrauding dozens of Bay Area residents, some of whom were her old classmates and family friends.
Wendy Wong, the proprietor of a travel agency called House of Aloha Hawaii, pleaded guilty to two felony violations Aug. 23 for failing to return money for travel services not provided and for illegally withdrawing funds from business accounts, the Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office said Monday.
According to a KGO investigation from 2021, Wong would deploy a litany of excuses for why flights and hotels were not booked — alleging that inclement weather and airline troubles caused cancellations. Wong never booked the flights or hotels in the first place.
Jennifer Sioxson, a family friend of Wong’s, told KGO that she was left without a hotel by the time she arrived to Hawaii for a vacation. She was forced to pay for a hotel out-of-pocket, she told KGO, but was given the runaround by Wong when asked for a refund.
“She was a family friend, our kids are friends, she’s hosted my kids at her house many times, so you know, it’s just, I thought she’d come around,” Sioxson told the station.
Wong was not licensed by the state of Hawaii to be a travel agent, according to the Better Business Bureau. The Better Business Bureau also cited House of Aloha Hawaii, stating that the organization “received a pattern of complaints concerning contract and service issues” from affected customers.
Wong is scheduled to be sentenced in November. If she pays $155,000 in restitution to her former clients, she will not face jail time — but will be on felony probation for two years.
Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Tamalca Harris did not respond to a request for comment from SFGATE.
Bay City News contributed to this report.
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