“Rs 20 crore fraud by Toplite Holidays Pvt Ltd,” alleges activist Shreha Dhargalkar, hundreds of tourists scammed

MUMBAI/PANAJI: Activist Shreha Dhargalkar has demanded the registration of an FIR and strict action by the Mumbai and Goa police against a timeshare/holiday company Toplite Holidays Pvt Ltd, operating from Calangute, Arpora and different parts of Goa and Mumbai.

According to Dhargalkar, the company which has offices in Mumbai and Goa is a fly-by-night operator and cons and cheats tourists in the name of offering national and international packages for holidays and vacations at great discounts on payment of an upfront “membership fee”.

“The fraud amount is in excess of Rs 20 crore,” Dhargalkar told this website, requesting the Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to personally look into the matter and ensure the registration of an FIR.

“The company keeps changing its name, logo and office address and operates under different identities, but the modus operandi is the same, to cheat tourists by offering them non-existent holiday packages at big discounts on upfront payment of huge membership fees,” Shreha said.

Thousands of tourists visiting Goa have been conned and cheated by this company over the years, Dhargalkar said, requesting the CM who hold the Home Portfolio to initiate a suo moto investigation against this ponzi or pyramid scheme company and arrest the culprits involved in this scam and fraudulent operation.

On Saturday, the Calangute Village Panchayat in North Goa issued notices to hotels and properties in its jurisdiction not to allow an alleged scam company Toplite Holidays Pvt Ltd to set up shop in their premises.

Earlier Toplite Holidays Pvt Ltd was operating from the premises of the Neelam Grand Hotel at Calangute and subsequent to several complaints from duped or scammed tourists, the Neelam Grand terminated the leave and license agreement of Toplite Holidays Pvt Ltd, Dhargalkar said.

Now the Calangute Panchayat has warned member hotels and resorts not to offer or sell office space to Toplite Holidays Pvt Ltd, due to the several complaints against the company.

Joseph Sequeira, Sarpanch of the Calangute Village Panchayat told media persons that his department has banned Toplite Holidays Pvt Ltd from setting up any office within the jurisdiction of the Panchayat due to the several complaints of fraud against the company.

According to several clients – complaints which abound online on the internet and on consumer forums, Toplite Holidays Pvt Ltd offers membership to unsuspecting tourists for a huge fee, promising them timeshare or similar bookings and stays in their member hotels.

However, after paying huge membership fees tourists are not given the promised holidays on some pretext or the other and are asked to pay additional amounts to avail of the discounts and special offers. Thousands of tourists have been cheated by this company of crores of rupees, Dhargalkar said.

When tourists accuse the company of cheating, their agents and representatives block their phone numbers and refuse to answer their calls, in spite of taking huge payments from them in the guise of membership fees, Shreha said, adding that the scam could be in the range of Rs 20 to Rs 22 crore.

She has demanded the registration of an FIR and Goa Crime Branch investigation into the pyramid scam immediately.