Dow
NEWARK, N.J. (Legal Newsline) - New Jersey Attorney General Paula Dow announced on Wednesday the filing of a second lawsuit against a travel company owner who settled a previous multimillion dollar lawsuit in February.
Dow alleges that Daryl T. Turner -- doing business as Reservations -- his wife Robyn B. Bernstein and their Marlton, N.J.-based company Travel Deals Limited Liability Company, as well as VIP Executives LLC, violated the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act and Advertising Regulations by failing to fulfill promises of complimentary cruises and airfare used to induce attendance at sales presentations. In addition, Dow alleges that they failed to provide the luxury vacation packages at discounted prices represented during the sales presentation.
On Tuesday, Presiding Judge of the Chancery Division Michael J. Hogan temporarily enjoined the defendants from transferring or disposing of any assets related to the matter and specifically enjoined Turner from any involvement in Travel Deals' business operations and the advertisement, offering for sale and sale of vacation packages to consumers in and outside of New Jersey.
Turner is scheduled to appear in Superior Court on Friday over allegations that he is in violation of the February settlement made with the Division of Consumer Affairs. That agreement barred Turner from engaging in the travel business in New Jersey for no less than five years and required him to repay consumers nearly $2.2 million for vacation packages and/or complimentary items never provided. Dow alleges that Turner held substantial undisclosed assets, including several luxury vehicles, which belies his sworn statement that he is unable to meet any portion of his restitution obligation.
"As we allege in our lawsuit, Turner is in clear violation of his settlement with the State," Dow said. "Every indication points to Travel Deals being yet another of Turner's companies that dangles too-good-to-be-true offers of free cruises and international vacations in front of consumers, defrauds consumers of their hard-earned money, and then leaves them with little more than heartache and frustration."
Dow received complaints from 15 consumers, most of whom paid between $2,500 and $5,194 for vacation packages that turned out to be essentially worthless. The alleged scheme is similar to the subject of the 2009 lawsuit in which over 670 affected consumers allegedly purchased vacation packages that Turner failed to provide or refund the money for.