Hawaii-based travel agent pleads no contest to ripping off clients for bogus trips

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - A travel agent who operated in Ewa Beach has been convicted by a California court after clients said she booked them on bogus trips to the islands.

Wendy Wong pleaded no contest to charges of failing to provide travel services that were paid for and illegally withdrawing cash from client accounts.

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Wong operated a business called “House of Aloha Hawaii,” which offered to arrange trips between Hawaii and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Prosecutors said she collected $200,000 from customers, didn’t book their trips, and then kept the money.

She faces two years in prison, but can avoid jail time if she pays $155,000 in restitution by the time she is sentenced in November.