An international internet crime wave unfolds before us. The extent of this international crime wave is unknown. On a recent tour to the Loire Valley in France, my wife and I were defrauded of more than $27,000, and I was threatened with false imprisonment in jail unless I immediately paid another $5,000 in cash. The tour operator, Luxury Tours France, received advance payment, and then falsely claimed that payment was not received. The tour operator's credit card company even demanded more than another $9,000.
International Internet Fraud and Theft
Then, a fraud and theft odyssey began. U.S. Laws are not enforced. Banks overlook fraud. And, thieves operate with impunity.
Per Merriam-Webster, 'theft' is 'the act of stealing, specifically: the felonious taking and removing of personal property with intent to deprive the rightful owner of it'. The ongoing fraud by Luxury Tours France constitutes theft, of course. Anyone performing theft is a thief. 'Fraud' is 'deceit or trickery specifically: intentional perversion of truth in order to induce another to part with something of value or to surrender a legal right'.
Tens of thousands of additional dollars were charged to my credit card, and my bank agreed. I am now responsible for these criminal credit card charges for a partial tour that cost approximately $2,400. I am now responsible to pay these fraudulent charges to my credit card company. How can I be responsible to pay for money that was stolen from my wife and me?
National and International Frauds are Not Prosecuted
My bank accepted this fraud, and demanded payment. When I filed this claim, my banker demanded that these frauds were business disputes, but I refuse to yield, and a fraud claim was filed by my bank. As this fraud proceeded, I was told by bank staff that nothing could be done, and legal actions would be my choice if I disputed bank demands for payment of these fraudulent charges. After other phone calls and insistence, my bank finally agreed to reconsider this fraud claim, and the fraud continues. I will lose thousands of dollars to theft, but maybe I will not lose tens of thousands of dollars.
As this theft proceeded, I learned about the full scope of international wire fraud, and the inaction that allows these frauds to go unpunished.
A Fraud by Any Other Name is Still a Business Dispute?
If criminal enterprises tell banks that fraudulent claims are valid, banks do not consider those transactions to be Fraud Claims, and then the bank calls those transactions Business Disputes. Such a technique reduces the number of Fraud Claims on the records of banks.
Figure 1: A wonderful trip to see the Chateaux' in the Loire Valley in France with some fraud and a jail threat thrown into the tour.
(Image by Robert A, Leishear, PhD) Details DMCA
A Jail Threat in a Foreign Country
When I was threatened with jail, my wife was terrified. What would she do if her husband of 50+ years was thrown into a French jail under false arrest? The tour operator was threatening to put me in jail in a foreign country while on vacation, which is a terrible nightmare for a tourist just wanting to see French Chateaux'. My response to the tour operator was loud and vulgar, and ultimately he did not have me arrested. Being locked up abroad is one of the greatest fears that can be experienced by any traveler.
Imagine a couple in their 70s faced with the prospect of being stranded in France an ocean away from home, and not knowing if the police were going to swarm their hotel room at any moment. After these first 2 days of a 4-1/2-day tour, the tour operator also cancelled our hotel, guide service, and transportation to go home, where all expenses were completely paid 11 days before the tour for this high price $6500 tour.
Lies and Extortion
The tour operator has since been provided with bank records from Bank of America that his bank received the full payment of $6500, yet he still falsely claims that he never received the money. Such actions are fraud. The definition of 'lie' is 'to present false information with the intention of deceiving'. Accordingly, Luxury Tours France staff lies, since they have the facts and state otherwise. They are liars and thieves.
Per Merriam-Webster, 'extortion' is defined as 'the act or practice of extorting especially money or other property', and 'extort' is defined as 'to obtain from a person by force, intimidation, or undue or illegal power; also: to gain especially by ingenuity or compelling argument'. Since I was threatened with jail if I did not pay $5,000, the definition of extortion fits the circumstances.
Credit Damage and Ongoing Theft
My credit score dropped from near 800 to 523, which is now in the lower 9% of credit scores, per Experian. Almost $10,000 is now due to my credit card company for fraudulent claims that remain on my monthly bank billing statement, and another $13,000+ will be invoiced for payment shortly. Note that $4000+ is already illegally held by Luxury Tours France.
Duplicate Hotel Payments - The Fraud Grew Bigger
I paid the hotel in France (Hotel Le Pavillon Des Lys) when my hotel was cancelled. However, I had no contract with this hotel. The tour operator contracted and defrauded that hotel - not I. I paid twice for the same hotel room - once to the tour operator and once to the hotel - and the hotel refuses to refund my money. Essentially, the tour operator is defrauding me of $27,000+, and the hotel expects me to pay the money that the operator defrauded from the hotel. In my opinion, such actions constitute hotel complicity in this international internet fraud.
In spite of this fraud dispute with this hotel, hotel staff were exceptional in their efforts to help my wife and me respond to the tour wreckage left behind by Luxury Tours France.
The Hotel Le Pavillon Des Lys Joins the Fraud
However, good service does not excuse fraud. The hotel was defrauded, and they passed that fraud along to my wife and me. When someone steals from you, you are not allowed to then steal from someone else to recover your losses, which is exactly what happened. Such actions are fraud and theft.
I attempted numerous times to allow the hotel to pay me the money that I was owed, but Luxury Tours France staff lied to the hotel, and again falsely claimed that they have never been paid. Luxury Tours France has ensnared another company in their fraud, where both of these companies are located in the same small town of Amboise, France. Luxury Tours France and the Hotel le Pavillon Des Lys are now jointly responsible for this continuing fraud.
The Frauds Exploded as My Bank Endorsed Multiple Frauds
At present, bank records indicate that, 'The merchant provided information confirming that [I] received the merchandise or service.' I did not order this tour five different times. Any such ridiculous claims that I wanted to pay for the same trip multiple times are blatant lies. According to the information presented here, the tour operator who is perpetrating these frauds is therefore a liar and a thief.
My bank has agreed to reconsider the tour operator fraud dispute, and my bank also agreed to consider a billing dispute for the hotel. This fraud continues.
More than $27,000 is being stolen from me. I do not like to be robbed. And, I am fighting this theft by writing this Op Ed.
This complex internet fraud scheme indicates that there may be other fraud victims. Luxury Tours France will certainly get away with stealing thousands of dollars from me, but perhaps this Op Ed can save some future tourists from similar frauds by Luxury Tours France.
A Deplorable Attack on Tourists
Luxury Tours France threatened false imprisonment against me as a 71-year-old tourist, and then executed a massive fraud against my 73-year-old wife and me after such horrendous actions. Their actions were despicable, and their horrific behavior serves as a monstrous and ugly scar on the tourist industry of France.
The FBI Ignores Internet Frauds
As I tried to prosecute these criminal acts, the FBI advised me that sums of this amount are never investigated during internet wire frauds, and banks are not responsible when their institutions are channeled for wire transfer frauds. Specifically, the FBI has not contacted me about an internet fraud complaint that I filed for this crime. In other words, internet crime and computer hacking are not prosecuted in the U.S. unless the fraud magnitude is near $100,000, which is good news for crooks.
Consider another fraud example. Eight years ago, my internet account was hacked, and the hacker sent emails to many of my contacts asking for money. The hacker claimed that my wife had been badly beaten in Europe, that we had been robbed, and we needed money immediately. Friends and family called before sending money, and theft was averted. The FBI would not accept phone calls. The FBI website stated that there are so many computer crimes that I should not expect action by the FBI.
An International Crime Wave
One international internet crime and the despicable jail threats in a single French town are considered here. The facts are that the FBI does not prosecute internet theft or any internet crimes under $100,000. Banks report fraud claims as business claims if customers have agreed to pay crooks who have deceived those customers. Given that prosecutions do not go forward, and crimes are improperly catalogued by banks, the scope of this international crime wave is obscured from the public. We have no concept or understanding of the full scope of this international internet crime tsunami.
Our Spring Vacation
On the way home from the Loire Valley (Figure 1), we stayed in Amsterdam, and we visited nearby tulip farms (Figure 2) and Keukenhof Gardens (Figure 3). All in all, my wife and I had an extraordinary vacation in Europe. However, she said that she will never set foot in France again.
Addendum
Complete details of this fraud are available ("Luxury Tours France, Bank of America Fraud Complaint", and "Hotel Le Pavillon Des Lys, Bank of America Billing Complaint", click here).
Luxury Tours France and the Hotel Le Pavillon Des Lys were provided drafts of this Op Ed. Neither company responded. A Tripadvisor review condemning the Hotel was also submitted (click here), and this review was also sent to Luxury Tours and the Hotel Le Pavillon Des Lys.
Atout, The Tourist Development Agency of France, was notified of this fraud, where the website link for this Op Ed was provided, along with a statement that:
Luxury Tours France committed an act of extreme fraud, and threatened false arrest of a U.S. tourist. An Op Ed was published as a public service to travelers who may consider visiting France. This OpEd News is available on the internet through OpEdNews.com
Earlier, I asked Atout by email if I can report a criminal act by one of their members. Atout did not respond.
This Op Ed was proofread by my wife, Janet D. Leishear, she agrees with the content of this Op Ed, and she provided additional insights to elucidate the full scope of the crimes cited in this document.
Addendum - The Fraud Continues - 6/27/2023
I submitted the following fraud accusation to Tripadvisor, and the hotel responded by accusing me of blackmail. I responded in turn. I am being defrauded of tens of thousands of dollars, and the crooks respond by accusing me of dishonesty. The correspondence follows.
Tripadvisor Review (Email to the hotel and Luxury Tours France)
To: Luxury Tours France and the Hotel Le Pavillon Des Lys
If you want to protect your reputation, try being honest, stop defrauding tourists, and stop making false accusations.
I have never blackmailed anyone. I asked for honesty, and received false accusations from you instead. Again your actions are despicable.My response to your false accusations follows.
'Robert Leishear wrote a review on 6/26/2023 (Tripadvisor)
Aiken, South Carolina
The Hotel Le Pavillon Des Lys is engaged in a fraud against my wife and I. This hotel contracted with another company [Luxury Tours France] for our hotel stay, and I paid that other company [Luxury Tours France] in full ($6,500) for a 4-1/2day tour with a hotel stay. In the lobby of this hotel, the owner of the other company threatened to have me put in jail if I did not pay an extra $5,000. When I refused to s yield to extortion, that [Luxury Tours France] company owner then canceled our hotel and all tour services.
This hotel then allowed me to stay if I paid this hotel a duplicate payment, where I had already paid another company [Luxury Tours France] to stay in this hotel for $1000+ for four nights. Given that my 73-year-old wife and I were stranded in France, I was coerced to pay the money.
Unknown to me, the hotel had charged my credit card the full hotel amount when I checked in, and they had told me that they needed my credit card for incidentals. The hotel had covered themselves for potential fraud by this other company [Luxury Tours France].
Even so, the hotel was very helpful to let us stay in the hotel, to find another guide service, and to arrange transportation when we were ready to leave France. Hotel staff was terrific, and the hotel was extraordinary.
However, the other company [Luxury Tours France] owes the money for this hotel invoice - not I. If someone steals from you, you are not entitled to steal from someone else to recover your losses. These thefts are exactly what happened at the Hotel Le Pavillon Des Lys.
The hotel continues to refuse to obtain the required payment from that company [Luxury Tours France]. In fact, the hotel manager stated that he believes that company's false claim that they did not receive payment, even though I provided proof of payment for our stay to the Hotel Le Pavillon Des Lys, and a copy of the FBI criminal report that I field against the other company [Luxury Tours France].
Both companies have accepted money for the same service, which constitutes fraud and larceny.
My wife is overwhelmed at this crime against our family. This crime is despicable.
Management response (Tripadvisor)
Jun 27, 2023 Guillaume Jouvin, Proprie'taire, Guillaume J (Management representative)
Unfortunately, we are not surprised by your opinion since you have been threatening us for weeks to harm us by any means if we do not reimburse you for your stay. This is purely a maneuver that we qualify as BLACKMAIL and that we will of course report to the competent authorities in order to defend our reputation. We are now certain that you are a manipulator and a specialist in "free" travel. The direction.
My Response (Email sent to the hotel and Luxury Tours France) Robert A. Leishear
Your statements are lies, and you are engaged in theft. I never blackmailed you. [As stated in correspondence,] I offered you an opportunity to divest yourself from this crime that was committed by Thierry Macalet of Luxury Tours France. You have chosen to support his crimes against my family.
The thought that I am a "free" travel specialist is ridiculous, since I have never disputed a hotel fee or travel fee anywhere - except your fraudulent hotel charge and Thierry's five fraudulent charges for the same tour. I have traveled with numerous tours that cost tens of thousands of dollars in Africa, China, South America, Antarctica, and Europe. I have stayed in hundreds of hotels, and I have only disputed your fraudulent charge.
You have committed a crime, and then you lie even more to accuse me of a crime.'
(Article changed on Jun 27, 2023 at 10:23 PM EDT)
