Hempstead travel agent booked fraudulent cruises, destination wedding, birthday trips, Nassau police say

A Hempstead woman faces multiple grand larceny charges for allegedly scamming more than $50,000 from numerous clients who reported they had booked and paid for nonexistent international excursions — including a destination wedding — through her East Meadow travel agency, Nassau County police said.

Tavia Thomas, 47, the sole owner and travel agent of Destiny Travel, at 1936 Hempstead Tpke., was arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead on Tuesday and charged with three counts of grand larceny, three counts of first-degree scheme to defraud and two counts of fourth-degree grand larceny, police said.

An investigation found on July 8, 2024, Thomas accepted $35,753.98 from nine people who had booked what they thought was a Royal Caribbean cruise departing from Bayonne, New Jersey. When they got to the port, the victims were notified their tickets were fraudulent and the cruise they had booked did not exist.

Later that month, Thomas charged two people $5,000 for a destination wedding through ALG Vacations. The venues were never booked, police said.

Several members of the wedding party also paid Thomas $2,660 for the trip.

Then, in early September, another would-be client booked a 75th birthday trip to the Dominican Republic for her mother through Destiny Travel, paying Thomas $10,034.16 for her and her 50 members of her family.

Thomas, though, never paid for the accommodations, police said.