Haj 2008 pilgrims conned by rogue travel agent

On Thursday 13th November 2008, police raided the offices of Qibla Hajj Kafela Ltd (a rouge travel agent, based off Brick Lane in London) that conned over 300 pilgrims of fulfilling one of the five pillars of Islam - going to Hajj. The travel agent owned by Al-Haj Md. Faruk Ahmed was offering one of the cheapest Hajj Packages available this year (£2,300 and £2,500 for Hajj). He falsely claimed to be an authorised agent approved by the Ministry of Hajj of Saudi Arabia and his words to reassure people regarding the package made pilgrims trust him and his fellow workers. Md. Faruk Ahmed set up Qibla Hajj Kafela on 06.08.2008. He previously worked in a group called Al Qibla Travels Limited (a Ministry of Hajj authorised agent) the previous year and due to some dispute went his separate ways.

Suspicions arose when pilgrims who paid their monies went to collect their Passports and tickets from his office at an agreed pickup date and found out that the office was closed with a notice sign on the door.

Md. Faruk Ahmed and his staff were nowhere to be seen. Police raided the office and confiscated hundreds of passports and other documents from locked cupboards. It is estimated that this con artist could have made away with up to £700,000.

He is nowhere to be seen. If you spot him and his crew please contact the police immediately.Arrests will be made as people like this cannot hide forever, the world is small place. I just hope for his own safety the police catch him before any of the pilgrims he conned do.Here's a report in Bengali taken from WeeklyBangladesh.

Thanks to the efforts of individuals like Councillor abdal Ullah, Trading Standards and the Police I have been made aware that all the passports for the unfortunate pilgrims have been returned to their rightful owners. "this is by no means, the best outcome," said Councillor Ullah. "But at least those who wish to and can afford to, can look at booking a Haj trip with another travel provider.

"I would like to assure the community that all agencies involved are working extremely hard to locate the said individual behind this and we will update the public as soon as we have relevant information."

If you are a victim of the scam please telephone the police on this special number: 020 8217 4948 to reclaim your passport.If there is a victims groups set up or if you want to set one up please let me know and I will post it here.Additionally if there are any photographs of this person and his group members as well as any other details such as his address in UK or Bangladesh (possibly where he ran off to) would be useful. Remember any useful info should also be reported to the police - lets not let these crooks get away!

Here is a video report from BBC News - CLICK HERE
Here is a press release by Al-Qibla Travels - CLICK HERE
Here is a report in Asian News - CLICK HERE

You can also email in confidence info@al-islam.co.uk