Kaimuki man arrested in alleged airline-ticket scam
By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer
A 55-year-old Kaimuki man turned himself in to police Wednesday on charges of stealing money from nine people who allegedly purchased bogus airline ticket packages from him from June 2001 to December 2002.
Wayne T. Abe, who is listed as living on 10th Avenue, was indicted by the O'ahu grand jury last year for second-degree theft.
The alleged scam involved bogus Hawaiian Airline tickets and continued through last month, authorities said.
Hawaiian Airlines was alerted to the scam last month by an employee whose father had been approached by a friend about a cheap ticket deal, company spokesman Keoni Wagner said. Since advising the public about the scam on Monday, a check of Hawaiian's passenger records has identified 55 people holding bogus tickets, Wagner said.
A total of 300 one-way ticket segments with false ticket numbers have been identified in the past month and a half, Wagner said.
Honolulu Police Department white-collar crime investigators, meanwhile, have opened a probe into ticket-scam complaints dating to October 2003. Detective Letha DeCaires, HPD's CrimeStoppers coordinator, said police have received complaints from Washington state and California and that losses will exceed $200,000.
The scam was promoted by word of mouth, most commonly at workplaces, said DeCaires. The offer was for five one-way tickets at $250 apiece with a free sixth ticket. The tickets had expiration dates and the $1,250 package price had to be paid up front, DeCaires added.
"It's pretty close to reality," DeCaires said of the pricing.
Police may never know how many people were affected because many victims are embarrassed and reluctant to file criminal complaints, DeCaires said. One woman, for example, purchased regular-priced tickets at her own expense to reimburse others who had bought the bogus package at her urging, DeCaires said.
Anne Deschene, president of the Better Business Bureau, has no record of any complaints against Abe. "This is not the fault of the airlines," Deschene said. "This is flat-out fraud."
Reach Rod Ohira at 535-8181 or rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.
