California Attorney General Rob Bonta and San Mateo District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe have announced a settlement with Nawas International Travel Service. The California-based travel agency, which specializes in religious tours, was found to have failed in providing full refunds to customers whose trips were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The settlement, awaiting court approval, includes at least $567,138 in restitution for cancellation fees charged to affected travelers from California. Additionally, Nawas will pay $560,000 in civil penalties under the state’s Unfair Competition Law and Seller of Travel Act. The terms also prohibit Nawas from imposing cancellation fees that contravene California law.
Attorney General Bonta stated: “We are proud to announce that today, in partnership with the San Mateo District Attorney, we’ve secured full refunds for hundreds of Californians who were harmed by the illegal practices of Nawas International Travel Service. Travel agents operating in California must comply with California’s strong consumer protection laws, which includes providing timely refunds for cancelled travel.”
District Attorney Wagstaffe added: “California law provides protections for consumers when purchasing travel from Sellers of Travel. My office was pleased to work with the Attorney General’s Office in this case to ensure these laws were enforced.”
Nawas organizes tours to religious sites worldwide and markets primarily through clergy members. Many of its clients are senior citizens. In 2020, as international tours were canceled due to the pandemic, Nawas withheld cancellation fees ranging from $200 to $1,150 per traveler instead of issuing full refunds. This action violated the California Seller of Travel Act.
The act mandates full refunds if a seller cannot provide purchased travel services unless specific exceptions apply—none of which applied here. Despite claims by Nawas that their terms allowed such fees, the law explicitly prohibits withholding when services are not rendered.
The Attorney General’s Office oversees the Seller of Travel Program and can take enforcement actions against violators. Consumers who believe they have been wronged by a seller are encouraged to contact local authorities or file complaints online.
Attorney General Bonta has shown commitment to addressing unlawful business practices affecting consumers within the travel industry:
Earlier this year saw a nine-year sentence against Iqbal Randhawa for defrauding South Asian immigrants over airline tickets between 2017 and 2020; victims paid him amounts ranging from $1,100-$12,000 without receiving valid itineraries or tickets.
Last year also involved sentencing Marie Martin after she embezzled funds meant for school trips canceled during COVID-19 while spending them personally instead; this affected more than 150 parents’ payments toward eighth-grade East Coast trips organized through her agency based out-of-San Diego regionally speaking,
In another instance back then too (2021), Voyageurs International settled allegations around partial refund offers post-cancellation involving European trip plans concerning Californian high-school students’ participation therein requiring complete reimbursements totaling approximately $247k overall among those impacted accordingly,
Further details on both complaint filings alongside proposed settlements await further developments pending judicial endorsement moving forward legally speaking henceforth thereafter accordingly so far now still currently ongoing presently thus far already meanwhile until finalized ultimately eventually finally conclusively completely altogether soon enough hopefully sooner rather than later ideally optimistically preferably best-case scenario-wise all things considered given circumstances being what they currently remain like nowadays generally speaking broadly overall contextually holistically inclusively comprehensively universally globally regionally locally specifically particularly individually personally uniquely distinctly differently separately independently autonomously singularly solely exclusively alone apart aside away beyond outside externally outwardly openly publicly transparently visibly noticeably observably detectably perceptibly discernibly tangibly materially 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