Fairfield’s travel agent obtains a 9 -year sentence for Asiennes fraud

By Bay City News

A Fairfield travel agent was sentenced to nine years behind bars for having defrauded members of the South Asian community in Northern California, prosecutors announced on Friday.

Iqbal Singh Randhawa stole a total of $ 147,617, according to a complaint from the California Attorney General Rob Bonta. Randhawa, a former candidate of the Fairfield Council who goes by Paul, is listed as president of M&K Travel Services Inc. in his Linkedin profile.

Between 2017 and 2020, more than a dozen victims hired Randhawa to buy plane tickets, paying him between $ 1,100 and $ 12,000 each, prosecutors said. Instead of buying tickets, Randhawa provided fraudulent routes and stole the funds.

Randhawa has also committed more than $ 89,000 in credit card fraud, using stolen credit information to buy legitimate plane tickets and sell them to paid customers “to keep your travel agency afloat,” said the prosecutor’s office.

After two trials, he was found guilty of 11 thefts of theft by a diversion and two indictment of crime of violation of the seller of the laws on travel, the prosecutors said.

The court also noted several aggravating factors, including the vulnerability of victims, the significant financial losses involved and the “calle” nature of Randhawa, said the prosecutor’s office.