BEAUMONT, Texas — A prominent Beaumont attorney is claiming that dozens of people may have fallen victim to a fraudulent travel agent that 12News previously reported on.
Attorney Layne Walker Jr. claims that Emily Lockhard-Furry, who operated Traveluxe Official, even has victims from out of state.
Walker claims it started a decade ago with Lockhard-Furry targeting family and close friends. Eventually, Walker says, the scheme reached travelers across the nation.
"Unfortunately we learned the hard way," said Cydni Stegall, who previously booked a vacation with Traveluxe.
Stegall booked a trip with her mom to Greece last year. She says they fell victim to Lockhard-Furry's travel scheme.
"We were going to have to be held liable for it once we got there. So two females alone in another country with no accommodations. So what are we supposed to do? Just find whatever is available and hope it's safe?" Stegall said.
Stegall says she spotted red flags, before they ever left for the trip.
"We've gotten excuses such as her child being sick, her being sick. We've gotten pictures of her little hospital wristbands," said Stegall.
She reached out to Walker and was told she's not alone.
"Just from people who've contacted my office in the past week, I'd be willing to bet it's probably, at this point, 50 or 60 people who have called wanting to pursue this," Walker said. "People didn't want to believe a local person, somebody that went to my same high school, would do this to them."
Walker already filed a civil lawsuit against Lockhard-Furry and Traveluxe Official on behalf of a woman from South Carolina. A judge ordered Lockhard-Furry to pay $210,000.
"It started small with, maybe, not giving you the refunds to getting so bold as to saying 'sorry, I don't know where your money went'," said Walker.
Walker believes Lockhard-Furry has been defrauding clients including friends and family for over a decade to the tune of at least $1 million.
Walker claims Lockhard-Furry would demand a wired payment from the client to book the trip, then book an expensive hotel with an expired credit card.
"So she sends a confirmation to the clients and everybody thinks everything is okay. But it's not until they actually land and get there and they say 'hey we have our confirmation number,' then the hotel says 'no, sorry. Your payment was never processed because the credit card was no good'," Walker told 12News.
Walker promises to fight to get his clients, like Stegall, justice.
"The gig's up. You can either return the money, or not. But people aren't going away," he said.
"Never in a million years did I think she would do something like this," said Stegall.
Jefferson County District Attorney Keith Giblin tells 12News no criminal charges have been filed. He's encouraging people who believe they've been victims of fraud to report it to their local law enforcement.