Travel agent arrested after allegedly selling fraudulent bookings
A Sydney travel agent accused of taking the money of dozens of customers has been arrested by police.
Footage obtained by A Current Affair showed the moment police finally caught Zahra Rachid, who is accused of ripping of customers and leaving them hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket.
Officers in Sydney's south established Strike Force Bail to investigate reports of a travel agent that had allegedly failed to honour customer bookings.
Rachid, who ran Travel World Sydney, allegedly cancelled bookings made by customers without their knowledge, and did not issue any refunds, pocketing the money for herself.
NSW Fair Trading received complaints about Travel World Sydney totalling more than $230,000.
Nicole Vris, claims she used Rachid as a travel agent to book a trip to Greece for herself and 34 family members.
She thought that her dream family holiday was booked, but when she checked her flights with the airline, they had no record of her booking.
"It's very hard to round everyone up to go on a holiday at the same time, it's so hard," Vris told A Current Affair.
"Zahra has ruined that dream for many people."
Her family has allegedly been left about $160,000 out of pocket.
She has since paid for new flights to Greece, going with only a handful of family members who are able to afford to pay for the trip twice.
"Your face value matters in life ... and she's definitely lost that," Vris said.
"This was going to happen and she needs to be held accountable for her actions."
Rachid is facing 16 fraud charges and is due in court in July.
"I think everybody having their funds returned to them would be great and I think by Zahra being put away it might just shake her foundations a little bit," Vris said.
Images: A Current Affair