December 13, 2014

    After a very long period of no posting or follow-up on this blog, I'm happy to report some developing news.
    It appears that the NY DA's office has brought indictments on several individuals most of whom seem to be Pakistani in origin.
    I will post some detail soon.

NY BBB not able to proceed

I had filed a complaint earlier with the NY BBB.
After a couple of back and forths, they indicated that no more can be done their end. Instead they asked to pursue other agencies. Here is text of letter.
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Dear D.krishna Murthy :

This is in reference to your complaint against Bombay Tours Inc..  Your complaint was assigned ID 9304620.

Your BBB has tried to present your complaint to Bombay Tours Inc. in an attempt to resolve this matter to your mutual satisfaction.  Unfortunately, despite our efforts, we have received no response to your complaint.  We attempted to contact Bombay Tours Inc. through written correspondence twice on your behalf, but we must now close this matter in our files.  This does not minimize the importance of your concerns, nor is it any reflection on the validity of your dispute.
You may now want to pursue this matter through an alternative resource. To view a list of agencies you may wish to contact for additional assistance, please visit: http://our.bbb.org/NYC/Public/Agency/.
Your BBB helps settle many marketplace disputes between consumers and businesses, but please understand that we are not an enforcement agency and we cannot compel a business to settle your complaint in a particular way, nor can we compel them to respond.  BBB mediation is a voluntary process requiring the good faith and willing participation of both parties to a dispute.

The firm’s failure to respond to your complaint will be reflected in its BBB record.  A firm’s rating may be affected by its failure to answer even one complaint.  Your experience may, therefore, alert other inquirers seeking information through the BBB.

Please feel free to contact us with any further questions.

Sincerely,

Esmond Brown
Mediator
Phone: (212) 358-8024

Letter to India Currents

I had sent a letter to our India Currents magazine.
They jave published it - see http://www.indiacurrents.com/articles/2012/12/04/voices

Another letter was also published - I reproduce them below

Fraudulent Travel Agency
India Currents carried an advertisement from Bombay Tours and Travels, operated by Vijay Bakshi. I called Bombay Travels to assist in booking tickets for my family on Emirates Airlines for travel from San Francisco to Delhi. On September 24, 2012, I wrote a check for $5,325 to Bombay Tours, Inc. and deposited the check into the agency account. However, on the day of the travel I was stopped at the airport for not having a reservation. The merchant in question had bought the tickets for me using stolen credit cards. The e-tickets he had sent me were canceled due to non-payment. I had to buy new tickets.
 On my return to the United States, I plan to file a police complaint against this business. In the meantime I am alerting India Currents readers to be careful and to caution anyone who conducts business with Bombay Travels and Tours or with Vijay Bakshi.
Rajeev Sumbly, currently in India
I am writing to inform you that a travel agency, Bombay Travels also known as Bombay Tours, has defrauded me to the extent of $8,000. They promised to acquire two business class tickets for me and my wife for travel from SFO-BLR recently. I decided to use their services since they offered a reasonable deal. I sent them a check so they could make a quick booking. Bombay Tours booked my tickets with British Airways by using a bogus credit card and, adding insult to injury, using my name as the card holder. Predictably British Air did not issue tickets and flagged the transaction. The end result was that I was unable to visit my aged parents and family who were keenly expecting us.
I called Bombay Tours and demanded my money back. They deposited a check into my account but the check was returned due to insufficient funds. Subsequent attempts to recover my money has also failed. I have notified authorities and hired a private investigator who informed me that the name given for the owner, Vijay Bakshi, is probably a bogus one. The address given was just a private mail box.
You will appreciate that this is much more than a matter of money; amongst Indian families the emotional after effects of missed reunions are quite strong. I have setup a blog http://bombaytoursfraud.blogspot.com/ to facilitate information sharing. Please point any inquiries to this website. Hopefully we can succeed in bringing this criminal to justice.
D. Krishna Murthy,  CA

I am also one of the victims....

I am also one of the victims of the Fraud Travel Agency name called 'Bombay Travels Inc / Bombay Tours Inc' (person name: Vijay Bakshi).. 

I had booked 3 tickets (ATL to HYD round trip) thru this agent (Bombay Travels Inc) and paid the whole amount ($3850.00).. 

when we went to airport on the flying date (Oct 26th - my wife and son is flying to India) and the emirates told me that the tickets were not issued, the credit card transaction not go through so they did NOT issued the tickets.... I totally shocked....and came back tried to reach that guy whole day and made him re-booked the tickets, but he is not booking or issuing the tickets nor refunding the amount ...
Daily I was calling and emailing but no luck he is not lifting the calls and not responding to me emails... 

(last time I was spoke with him was after Diwali Nov 16th I guess after that he was not responding) 

Here are the transactions details:

We paid full amount on Aug 24^th 2012 for the tickets through account transfer  from Bank Of America account made out by friend and deposited in Bank of America account 4830 4629 2318 of BOMBAY TOURS INC. 

Here are the details of that fraud: runs this business under name of 'BOMBAY TOURS INC'

http://bombaytravelsinc.com/ 

( this site was registered in Pakistan (see this - http://whois.domaintools.com/bombaytravelsinc.com )

The Bombay Travels Inc. Address Is .1407 AVE - Z, SUITE -279, BROOKLYN, New York, 11235
Contact person: Vijay Bhakshi
Phone : 212-354-4400 / 347-393-5716
bombaytravelinc@yahoo.com 

check the below links you can find more people like us... 

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/bombay-travels-inc-fraud-agency-c643164.html#c1289271 

with this board and facebook; I am able to gathered 10 people (including me) we do not know how many other got trapped by him...

now we are working as team to catch this guy and get our money back 

We had filed complaints at below:

1. NYC Department of Consumer Affairs 

2. NY attorney gen - Consumer Frauds and Protection Bureau 

3. Better Business Bureau (BBB)

4. Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

5. local police dept / Forsyth County Sheriff's Office

6. iC3  

7. Indian Consulates 

8. common complaint with Brooklyn DA (District Attorney)

9. common complaint with FBI

Back after trip

  I got back from my necessary trip to India attending to my inescapable obligations as a son.  I note that there have been several additional victims who have come forward, and various actions taken.
  I have not yet gone through the entire chains of e-mails but will do so over next few days.  Then I will summarize what has been happening along with some information gathering that I had initiated on my own.
  It is quite clear this criminal or even group of criminals are quite adept at this kind of fraudulent behaviour.  But we will definitely go after them and hopefully bring them to justice.

   Leaving for India on hearing some sad news re my father.
   Will not be able to post for next few days.
  

Complaint Filing with NY Dept Of State

     Complaints may also be filed with the NY Dept of State, Consumer Protection Bureau.
     Online forms available at https://www.dos.ny.gov/consumerprotection/form/complaintform.asp


     This is what I filed - others may wish to change specifics pertinent to their situation.

     2  round-trip Business Class Airline tickets San Francisco - Bangalore, India that were paid for, were not issued by Bombay Tours.  A Brief description follows.

    Bombay Tours advertised under Bombay Travels in the local Indian periodical.  Name of Mr. Vijay Bakshi was provided as contact.  I contacted him later part of September 2012 for 2 business class tickets SFO-BLR for travel Oct 17.  He promised to acquire them and quoted a price of $xxxx per ticket for a total of $xxxx.  Since travel was needed in a few short weeks, he asked that a deposit of said amount be made to his Bank of America for which he provided account number.  This was made on Sept 25, 2012

   He then provided a booking reference on Emirates.  Over the next few days I called Emirates, they said no tickets were issued.  When Mr. Bakshi was contacted, he said there was a problem with Emirates and he promised to get these on British Airways.  A booking reference on British Air was also made here by Mr. Bakshi.

   A few days before departure I attempted to confirm seating, tickets etc., with British Airways.  They informed me that a fraudulent credit card transaction was attempted and that no ticket would be issued.   This was a day or two before departure.

   I demanded my money back.  Bombay Tours deposited a check for $xxxx into my account Oct 17.  This was returned Oct 19 for lack of sufficient funds.  I attempted to redeposit check a week later but was told by Chase officer that funds were not available in account to clear.

   Certified letters have been sent to addresses provided, but there has been no response from Bombay Tours or Mr. Bakshi.

    I am taking next steps by filing this complaint.