A Solano County travel agent who prosecutors call a “serial immigrant victimizer” has been sentenced to nine years in prison for his crimes.
California Attorney General Ron Bonta said that 72-year-old Iqbal Randhawa preyed on immigrants across the Bay Area for years.
Harman Singh said he and his family were among many who were scammed Randhawa.
Singh said that his father found an ad for Randhawa’s Fairfield travel agency in an Indian newspaper. They gave him money for three airline tickets to Delhi, India. and while the itinerary the agent sent them looked legit, when it came time to check in, the tickets didn’t exist.
“He would purchase refundable tickets. He would send it to people. after weeks past he claimed the refund and they deposit the funds back into his account,” Singh said.
Calling him a serial immigrant victimizer, Bonta said Randhawa targeted South Asian victims, using his shared culture to callously dupe them.
“I think it’s awful. It’s disgusting. It’s immoral it’s wrong and it’s absolutely illegal,” he said.
“Earned the trust by speaking the language in Punjabi to some of his clients and they felt he would take care of them.”
Randhawa’s Yelp page has numerous complaints from reviewers warning others he’s a fraud. Court records show he has a long history of civil law suits filed against him.
Last month, a jury found Randhawa guilty of 11 felony counts of grand theft and two felony counts of violating Seller of Travel Laws.
“It left victims, high, dry, including a family, trying to attend a wedding in India who never had flights and had their wedding plans ruined,” Bonta said.
Bonta added Randhawa bilked victims out of millions of dollars over 20 years and Singh testified at the trial and calls Randhawa’s actions despicable.
“You don’t expect someone of your own community to do this, especially targeting their own community members. You expect bigger things,” Singh said.
Randhawa is now serving a nine-year sentence at the Solano County Jail.
