A Kindersley travel agent has been sentenced to three years in prison for a fraud that exceeded $1 million and affected hundreds of people.
Following a joint submission from the Crown and defence, Leslie Glauser, 45, was sentenced Tuesday in a Kindersley courthouse. In addition to serving time in a federal penitentiary, Glauser was also ordered to pay back a total of $200,000 to 50 of the fraud victims who attempted to book packages through T&T Travel in Kindersley. The remaining 200 people were reimbursed by credit card companies.
According to a letter from the Kindersley RCMP detachment obtained by the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, police launched “an investigation into T & T Travel, Kindersley, Saskatchewan for fraudulent transactions” on Jan. 22. Those filing complaints ranged from Kindersley’s acting mayor to couples attempting to travel for destination weddings.
Shaun Henry, who in January 2016 was Kindersley’s acting mayor, said he and his wife paid for a $3,100 Jamaican getaway through T & T Travel in December, but that the agency did not book flights or hotel rooms.
On Jan. 22, 2016, Brandy Altomare, who claims her destination wedding was compromised by the agency, sent the owner a Facebook message laying out her concerns about the business. The owner, who previously claimed to Altomare to have been “quite sick,” provided a pithy reply: “The business has closed as of today. On the advise (sic) of my lawyer I cannot comment.”
Cheryl Bleile said in January 2016 that her son Chris and his fiancee Kerri Fortin booked a destination wedding — something they could not otherwise afford — after winning a package from T & T Travel that guaranteed them about $2,500 in travel expenses if 21 adult guests paid in full. She said that at one point, “at least” 32 guests had paid a combined sum of $40,000 while T & T Travel had made a single $300 deposit.
Read the full story at the Saskatoon Star Phoenix.
