Sydney travel agent Zahra Rachid hit with fresh charges over alleged $600k holiday fraud
Police investigating Sydney travel agent Zahra Rachid over fraud allegations have told a court they are fielding complaints from her ex-customers on a “daily” basis after media publicity of her initial arrest led to a swarm of new complaints.
Police & Courts
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A Sydney travel agent accused of duping would-be holiday-makers out of more than $600,000 has been hit with 57 fresh charges after media publicity surrounding her initial arrest prompted an influx of complaints to police.
It comes as The Daily Telegraph can reveal new details about the police case against Zahra Rachid, who allegedly operated the scam through her Arncliffe-based business, Travel World Sydney.
Court documents outlined how Rachid’s clients were planning to fly across the world to premier destinations such as Paris and Greece and stay at world-famous hotels including Dubai’s Atlantis The Palm, Six Senses in the Maldives and The Great Pyramid Inn at Giza before her alleged deceit left them high and dry.
The 53-year-old was arrested in June and initially charged with 16 counts of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception following a months-long police investigation.
She was granted bail at the time but was unable to meet the financial conditions and remained in custody.
Documents tendered to the NSW Supreme Court during Rachid’s recent bail application reveal she has since been hit with a further 57 charges after more disgruntled clients came forward claiming they too had been swindled.
Rachid’s barrister told the court Rachid was now facing 73 charges relating to former customers who allege Rachid deceived them out of a combined $616,000.
Police said they anticipated laying further charges against Rachid in the near future, claiming more alleged victims were coming forward “daily” to make statements.
The court heard Rachid stands accused of taking payments from customers for overseas trips but never completing the bookings with airlines or hotels.
It is alleged Rachid issued some clients with fake airline tickets and itineraries on dummy travel documents - complete with booking reference numbers and seat allocation.
Others simply didn’t receive any paperwork at all, police claim.
The court heard some customers learned of the alleged fraud ahead of their trips when they checked in with their respective airlines and hotels and were told there were no reservations in their names.
However, court documents said at least three customers only became aware they didn’t have a seat on the plane when they arrived at Sydney airport hours before their scheduled flights.
In arguing for his client’s release on bail, Rachid’s legal team said their client was not a fraudster - just a very poor business woman.
“Your Honour, I’m instructed this is essentially a business failure,” her barrister said.
“Things got out of hand … it [the money] had all gone into international travel tickets and it might be looked at as a case of a business going down and Peter starting to rob Paul type issues.”
Court documents said one client allegedly transferred $52,000 to Rachid in late 2023 to pay for Emirates business class tickets to Portugal, only to be told the money had been refunded back to Rachid when they contacted the airline in early 2024 to confirm their flights.
Another customer allegedly deposited $20,000 with Rachid in January to cover flights and accommodation at Six Senses in the Maldives, but later found out the bookings had been cancelled after Rachid allegedly failed to make the payment.
It is alleged Rachid did not return the funds to either party.
Justice Desmond Fagan refused Rachid’s bail application, finding there was an unacceptable risk she would commit further offences or flee the jurisdiction if she was released from custody.
The case will return to court later this year.
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