Former airline agents suspects in ticket scam
EL PASO, Texas (Reuters) -- At least eight former employees at the Southwest Airlines ticket counter in El Paso International Airport allegedly stole $1.1 million from the carrier by pocketing cash from selling tickets that should have been voided, an FBI spokesman said.
The employees have been under investigation since last year and have allegedly been involved in the suspected ticket scam since 1996, Special Agent Art Werge, spokesman for the El Paso FBI office said Thursday.
The employees have been fired and the airline said it is fully cooperating with investigators, a Southwest spokeswoman said.
The Southwest agents allegedly took advantage of transactions in which customers walked up to the counter and made purchases in cash, Werge said.
The agents would supply customers with tickets that should have been voided. These tickets were supposed to be placed in a secure pouch and not sold, he said.
The customers were not aware they were issued tickets that should not have been sold. They were not harmed because they could use those tickets for travel, Werge said.
The agents are suspected of not reporting the cash transactions to the company. Some are suspected of engaging in the scheme as part of an organized ring while others allegedly acted on their own, he said.
"We can't speak specifically about (pressing charges) because there is an ongoing investigation with the FBI," Southwest spokeswoman Angela Vargo said.
Copyright 2003
Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
