35°
The Office of the Attorney General and the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs announces that customers who paid for but did not receive all or part of the all-inclusive travel packages they purchased from Crown Travel Service, Inc., of Bloomfield will receive a total of $525,000 in restitution.
The Division of Consumer Affairs mailed restitution checks to 227 customers who were defrauded by Crown Travel Service, also known as “Club ABC Tours,” and an affiliated company ABC Destinations, LLC. The companies and their principals, brothers Robert S. Paris and Thomas H. Paris, paid the state $525,000, under terms of the Final Consent Judgment.
The defendants continued to accept customer payments for travel packages to occur as late as October 2013 even though all parties were insolvent, some as early as 2008. The state had filed an action against Crown Travel Service, ABC Destinations, and the Paris brothers, alleging that they violated the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act and the Advertising Regulations.
Customers found themselves stranded overseas without hotel accommodations and others made payments for travel packages that were never booked.
“These restitution checks mark the final chapter in the state’s efforts to halt and remedy the deceptive practices of the Paris brothers and their businesses,” said Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman.
Robert Paris and Thomas Paris are to notify the DCA if they open a business in New Jersey and/or advertise, offer for sale and/or sell merchandise to consumers in New Jersey.
Investigators Murat Botas and Oscar Mejia of the DCA's Office of Consumer Protection conducted this investigation.
Deputy Attorney General Lorraine K. Rak, chief of the Consumer Fraud Prosecution Section within the Division of Law, represented the state.
Click here for more information or call 800-242-5846.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Ridgewood and receive free news updates.
