Hajj travel agent accused of fraud faces federal charges

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Three years ago the I-Team exposed Rashid Minhas, the Chicago travel agent whose customers say they were left in the lurch instead of in Saudi Arabia, despite having pre-paid for a pilgrimage to Mecca.

The last time the I-Team saw Minhas in 2011, he was facing an angry crowd of travel agency clients who had paid thousands of dollars for trips to Mecca that never happened.

Three years after our investigation, Minhas has more than just customer service issues. He is preparing for trial in January on federal fraud charges.

Minhas, who arrived at the federal courthouse in Chicago Wednesday, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he stole $300,000 that his customers had paid to come to Mecca in Saudi Arabia - trips that never happened.

Followers of Islam are expected to visit Mecca - a trip known as Hajj - at least once in their lifetime, and for many Muslims, it requires their life savings.

Federal prosecutors say Minhas "exploited a loophole in the electronic payment system for paper airline tickets and fraudulently obtained customer funds by voiding tickets without notifying the customer or the airline." They say he then "fraudulently retained customers' funds for his personal use."

In the 2008-2009 scheme, authorities say he operated from a storefront on the North Side; the same location the I-Team found tracked victims in 2011 who each lost thousands of dollars.

"We try to teach them that we're Muslims and we live in a free country and now they're looking at their mom and dad and their fellow Muslims have been cheated by their own fellow Muslim," said Rukhsana Imtiaz, a Hajj travel victim. "It's embarrassing."

Even as Minhas had customer confrontations in 2011, he denied it was a Hajj scam or doing anything wrong, even though jilted customers say they have never been repaid.

In court Wednesday, the travel agent and his attorney prepared for a January bench trial on fraud charges. Minhas then went back to work at a relocated North Side travel business with a new name, whose online store advertises the same kind of religious pilgrimages that got him in trouble in the first place.

One issue facing travel agents who book trips to Mecca is that a Saudi Arabian visa is required and not all who apply get one. In some cases, worshipers who pay for the non-refundable travel don't get their visas and are ineligible to go.

Minhas, who previously went by the name Rashid Faridi, had no comment after Wednesday's court appearance. Neither did his attorney.