Chattanooga police have been alerted to a possible travel agency scam that recently came to the area.
A series of seminars promoted by Florida-based Royal Palm Vacation was conducted at the Hilton Garden Inn located at 311 Chestnut St. in August during which the group advertised vacations at a major discount as compared to regular travel agencies, said Chattanooga Police Department spokeswoman Sgt. Jerri Weary in a news release.
After receiving a complaint about the company, an officer looked into the business and found that there’s an open investigation on the company.
The Florida Attorney General’s Office said it has received several complaints against United Vacation Travel and found it has conducted sales under various names. Suncoast Vacations, Suncoast LLC, Travel Services USA, United Vacation Network, Capital Finance, CER Suncoast Vacations, (SVI) and Royal Palm Vacation are aliases of the company which misrepresented itself and did not deliver what it promised, Sgt. Weary said.
The representatives of the company that came to Chattanooga told potential clients they were based out of Reno, Nev., but officials in Reno advised that the address listed, 318 California Ave., Suite 922, was a P.O. Box.
Its office then changed to another address of 3500 Lakeside Court, Suite 208, which was nothing more than a small unoccupied office.
Florida officials looked further into the company and found that it was formerly owned by Donna Loher of San Antonio, Texas. Ms. Loher was killed in November of last year after a domestic dispute with an ex-boyfriend, Sgt. Weary said.
One of Ms. Loher’s three sons took over the company, which at that time was called United Vacation Travel. Since taking over the business complaints have come in about suspicious practices, Sgt. Weary said.
Chattanooga police encourage anyone in the area who is a victim of this scam to notify the Florida Attorney General’s fraud hotline at (866) 966-7226.
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