Senator Urges Investigation of Shuttered Bloomfield Travel Agency

State Sen. Kevin O’Toole urged New Jersey officials Wednesday to investigate a travel agency that allegedly took money from customers but shut the doors before vacationers could pack their bags.

The Bloomfield-based company, Club ABC Tours, allegedly defrauded over 200 customers, who were left without a booked vacation or were stranded in foreign countries without accommodations, O’Toole wrote in a letter to state Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa.

The Republican Essex County senator wrote letters to both Chiesa and State Senate President Stephen Sweeney on Wednesday calling for a special committee hearing to investigate the fraud allegations.

“They were willing to go to great lengths to leave no stone unturned in their attempts to perpetrate this fraud,” O’Toole wrote in his letter to Sweeney.

According to Travel Weekly, the club ceased operations on Oct. 1, took down their website and stopped answering phone calls.

Currently, the company website states, “If you booked a tour and purchased travel insurance, you may contact your insurer to determine claim eligibility. If you paid by credit card, you may contact your credit card company to determine refund eligibility.”

But the 45-year-old company gave over two dozen customers a discount if they paid in cash up until the day before the company shut it doors, NJ.com reported.

“At minimum the reported actions of Club ABC Tours have the appearance of conspiracy, consumer fraud and theft,” O’Toole said in a press release. 

Since the company closed, the Division of Consumer Affairs has received at least 166 complaints and Trip Mate has been contacted by over 200 customers about unpurchased travel insurance policies, according to NJ.com.