(WSVN) - They “thought” they were getting a good deal on airline flights but instead got a ticket to trouble. Now, some are suing and police are investigating. The Night team’s Karen Hensel has tonight’s 7 Investigates.
Dozens of people thought they were going on fabulous vacations, including all four women at this table.
Kristen Umanzor: “I was going to travel to Greece.”
They say they bought discounted vouchers for round-trip airline tickets.
The woman they paid is Lissy K. Irarrazabal of Miami who, they say, claimed to get airline vouchers from an employee of American Express Travel.
Kristen Umanzor: “Instead of money bonuses, she gets vouchers, and she sells them because she doesn’t use them.”
But, they say, when it came time to travel, they had no plane tickets, only sky-high excuses.
Kristen Umanzor: “All the issues going on with the pilots and the airlines.”
Carolina Upegey: “Grandma, the mom is sick. I mean, you name it. She has all the excuses, so this time — that’s why I laugh — this time, she killed her grandma one more time.”
Armed with their cell phones, laptops and suspicion, these women became internet detectives.
They say they have found people all over the world out more than $450,000.
Kristen Umanzor: “Argentina, Peru, Spain, England. We have people in California. We have people in Sarasota, New jersey.”
Karla Cavlo flew in from Peru the day we spoke with her.
Through a translator, she says her family is devastated after purchasing 13 round-trip tickets to Mexico to celebrate her uncle’s 70th birthday.
Karen Hensel: “And they’re out $12,000.”
Karla Cavlo, translator: “$12,000.”
Kristen Umanzor says some people who paid Irarrazabal did get flights, but they were often last minute — with no return flights.
Lucy Chang: “She has $30,000 now.”
Kristen Umanzor (talking to Lucy Chang): “So one example is when you went to Germany, right? She gave her and her friends tickets to go to Germany but did not give them the return flight, so she had to buy the return flights with her own credit card.”
Miami-Dade Court records show, back in 2014, a man successfully sued Irarrazabal over “vouchers of eight plane tickets.”
A judge ordered her to pay him back $4,350.
Just last month, three new lawsuits were filed against Irarrazabal.
The amounts vary, $1,000; $1,600 and $8,000 — but all say they requested refunds and didn’t get them.
Kristin wrote in her lawsuit, “We have found over 35 victims.”
Kristen Umanzor: “I said, ‘If you don’t give me my money, I’m going to sue you in small claims court, and I’m going to file a police report,’ and her, you know, she kind of laughed at me and said it was going to cost me more money to go after her than what she owed me.”
Now, reports have been filed with the Broward Sheriff’s Office, Miami, Miami-Dade Police and the Florida attorney general.
We tried to talk with Lissy Irarrazabal at her home, but no one came to the door.
Karen Hensel: “What do you want to see happen to her?”
Kristen Umanzor: “Jail, definitely.”
Carolina Upegey: “There she comes, selling dreams and messing with people’s dreams and lives, and it’s not fair. She needs to stop.”
While Irarrazabal faces civil lawsuits and criminal investigations, we also spoke with American Express. The company confirmed it does not have a program that rewards employees with bonus travel vouchers that can be resold.
CONTACT 7 INVESTIGATES:
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954-921-CLUE
7Investigates@wsvn.com
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