Balita has been receiving complaints from victims of Ms. Rowena, a.k.a. Winnie Lyn Santiago, who allegedly scammed them with a proposed travel agency investment.
Ms. Santiago presented herself as co-owner of Smart Choice Travel and encouraged her victims to invest in her travel company and in return they would get a generous interest monthly.
To entice investors Ms. Rowena offered an interest rate way higher than what the banks had. Then she sweet-talked them with references to the Lord and the Bible. Any God-loving or good Catholic kababayan can easily fall prey to entrust her with hard-earned money, according to the complainants.
Once the bait is bitten Ms. Rowena eased the line by paying the promised high monthly interest for a few months. This trick also served to spread the good news to attract more investors. When the victim is totally hooked, wily Rowena would reel in the line, contriving a personal emergency to gain sympathy, then milk the victim to give her more money, sometimes at still higher interest rates.
Some victims were prevailed upon to keep investing more and more till they had given everything. Some were urged to seek out other investors from among their friends and family for a percentage of the profit. The going would be good while Ms. Rowena was able to pay the monthly interest as promised, then it would peter out till it stopped completely. That is when she would make up wild scenarios for her nonpayment.
These are only a few of the horror stories reported to us by her victims.
Ms. Rowena became connected with Smart Choice and Budget Travel, using their facilities to invite customers to their offices. She would sell airline tickets at outrageous discounts from $200 to $300 less than the going price from a regular travel agent, provided the transaction was paid to her in cash. The unknowing customer would face the biggest surprise in his life when after presenting his ticket at the airport airline counter he would be told it was worthless and could not be honored.
Smart Choice and Budget Travel terminated their arrangements in October 2013 after discovering Ms. Rowena’s misrepresentations. Many victims in their desperation naturally blamed the agency for their predicaments. The owner, Gladys, admitted it was difficult making people understand that agents, such as Ms. Rowena, are not their employees and not on their payroll, that it is the customer’s responsibility to be alert with his money and therefore should ensure they are dealing only with duly registered travel agencies and licensed agents.
Ms. Rowena had victimized hundreds of travelers using the travel agencies that she was once was associated with. “Many people booked with her because of the big price discounts. They paid her with cash directly instead of our agency business account,” said Gladys.
“In addition, some people who paid her with credit cards were similarly cheated. Without their consent or knowledge Ms. Rowena used the credit cards of her customers to pay for other passenger’s ticket. In some instances she had also charged more money on the credit cards than what was originally agreed to between her and them. When confronted, Ms. Rowena would give the usual personal exigency reason, and assure them she would pay them back later,” she further said.
Except the promised refund would never be forthcoming. “We feel sorry for all of her victims. Our agency was victimized too as we had to cover and pay $29,000 worth of airline tickets to customers, not including those in the credit card disputes,” Gladys added.
The investors in the claimed travel agency business later found out about the cases filed against Ms. Rowena in Las Vegas where she also operated the same crime. They revealed that there are accomplices helping her racket in Toronto, ostensibly a couple who lives in a condo in Scarborough where Ms. Rowena stays when in Canada. Victims also spoke about an insurance agent that is abetting and helping her recruit would be victims.
Ms. Rowena been arrested and is now in jail in Toronto but the victims are in the lurk as to the recovery of their losses. Still they hope that justice will be done and that they will get even a little bit of their hard earned money back. .A lawyer that represents Smart Choice and Budget Travel is asking victims to call their law office for a possible class action lawsuit. She is Carol Shirtliff Hinds at 289-319-0606 or cell 647-523-1849.
Those that have not reported their story, please call Financial Crimes Unit at 416 808 7299, refer to report number 178 7786. The more complaints received the better as she would have to serve a longer sentence once convicted before they turn her over to the US authorities to serve another prison term in Las Vegas. Please go to the police so that this fraudster and her Toronto accomplices will pay for their crimes and will not walk free. *****