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https://www.blackenterprise.com/travel-agent-arrested-essence-festival/
Nakesia Washington, a travel agent and entrepreneur, was arrested for allegedly scamming dozens of women out of tens of thousands of dollars after they used her services to book a vacation to attend the 2018 Essence Festival in New Orleans.
The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office is reportedly investigating cases from several dozen women who used Washington’s travel agency, OBL Travel L.L.C., to book concert tickets, hotel reservations, and party passes to attend the popular music festival during the July 4 weekend. Victims of the scam told police that they purchased vacation packages through OBL, but the 41-year-old travel agent failed to deliver. The Better Business Bureau said it has 45 complaints against OBL Travel, reports WSDU. The losses have been valued at $80,000. As a result, Washington was arrested on Aug. 2 and charged with theft of more than $25,000, theft valued between $5,000 and $24,999, and two counts of computer fraud, according to NOLA.com. However, officials say the value of the losses may increase and Washington may face more criminal charges.
(Twitter)
“We expect the number of cases and the monetary losses to grow as additional cases come in,” said Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. Jason Rivarde. Washington may even face federal charges since the FBI is assisting in the investigation.
One woman named Kerry Gouff says she and her friends arrived in New Orleans for the festival only to find that the hotel reservations she thought she paid for through the OBL Travel Co. were not secured. As a result, she was forced to cough up an additional $1,200 for a room on top of the $1,000 she had already spent. “We were looking forward to a great time booked some travel and things didn’t go as planned,” said Gouff.
Likewise, Cinneah El-Amin, a 24-year-old woman based in New York, claims that she and her friends each paid $1,092 to OBL to travel to Essence. However, when they arrived, they also found themselves without hotel reservations. As a result, they had to shell out an additional $1,000 for a smaller room. Plus, El-Amin says that Washington only provided them with Essence Fest concert tickets after she hounded her. And even then, the tickets were not seated together and they were shorted a ticket one night.
Mattine Buchanan, a Nashville-area travel agent who worked with Washington’s company to arrange travel for about 25 women, also filed a police complaint, claiming that Washington bilked her out of $31,000. Buchanan signed a contract with OBL Travel and began sending payments for the women’s hotel reservations on Aug. 31, 2017, she said. Other victims told The Fox 8 Defenders that they had no choice but to cancel their trip after learning their accommodations were not secure.
Washington reportedly told many of her clients that she suffered from a medical emergency and that her bank account had been hacked. Still, many are demanding to be reimbursed. “Hopefully, we can get restitution for the money that we spent,” Adriana Williams told WSDU. “Especially me, I am out of $8,000 on top of the money that I paid for the package. It was the worst trip ever because I was stressed out my mind and so was the group I was with.”
Washington was released Aug. 5 from the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Grenta on a $45,000 bond. Her attorney is confident that Washington will be found not guilty. Nevertheless, her website is currently advertising Essence Festival vacation packages for 2019.
How To Avoid A Travel Scam in NOLA
In addition to doing diligent research, Essence Banks, the executive director of the New Orleans Multicultural Tourism Network (NOMTN), says vacation goers can avoid getting scammed by reaching out to their agency for recommendations to a reputable travel agency that will accommodate them professionally and enhance their visit to New Orleans in a way that will exceed all expectations.
Another piece of advice, “plan and book early,” she says. “This year, over half a million people attended [the Essence Festival] and it was the first year ever that all three nights were sold out. We don’t expect anything less next year,” says Banks. “NOMTN will work with visitors to help them plan their itinerary. There’s so much culture to enjoy in New Orleans. With a little lead time, a visitor could plan an off the beaten path experience in New Orleans and a lifetime of memories. As ‘Guardians of the Culture,’ NOMTN can point them in the right direction.”
The post Travel Agent Arrested for Ripping Off Essence Festival Attendees appeared first on Black Enterprise.
Nakesia Washington, a travel agent and entrepreneur, was arrested for allegedly scamming dozens of women out of tens of thousands of dollars after they used her services to book a vacation to attend the 2018 Essence Festival in New Orleans.
The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office is reportedly investigating cases from several dozen women who used Washington’s travel agency, OBL Travel L.L.C., to book concert tickets, hotel reservations, and party passes to attend the popular music festival during the July 4 weekend. Victims of the scam told police that they purchased vacation packages through OBL, but the 41-year-old travel agent failed to deliver. The Better Business Bureau said it has 45 complaints against OBL Travel, reports WSDU. The losses have been valued at $80,000. As a result, Washington was arrested on Aug. 2 and charged with theft of more than $25,000, theft valued between $5,000 and $24,999, and two counts of computer fraud, according to NOLA.com. However, officials say the value of the losses may increase and Washington may face more criminal charges.
(Twitter)
“We expect the number of cases and the monetary losses to grow as additional cases come in,” said Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. Jason Rivarde. Washington may even face federal charges since the FBI is assisting in the investigation.
One woman named Kerry Gouff says she and her friends arrived in New Orleans for the festival only to find that the hotel reservations she thought she paid for through the OBL Travel Co. were not secured. As a result, she was forced to cough up an additional $1,200 for a room on top of the $1,000 she had already spent. “We were looking forward to a great time booked some travel and things didn’t go as planned,” said Gouff.
Likewise, Cinneah El-Amin, a 24-year-old woman based in New York, claims that she and her friends each paid $1,092 to OBL to travel to Essence. However, when they arrived, they also found themselves without hotel reservations. As a result, they had to shell out an additional $1,000 for a smaller room. Plus, El-Amin says that Washington only provided them with Essence Fest concert tickets after she hounded her. And even then, the tickets were not seated together and they were shorted a ticket one night.
Mattine Buchanan, a Nashville-area travel agent who worked with Washington’s company to arrange travel for about 25 women, also filed a police complaint, claiming that Washington bilked her out of $31,000. Buchanan signed a contract with OBL Travel and began sending payments for the women’s hotel reservations on Aug. 31, 2017, she said. Other victims told The Fox 8 Defenders that they had no choice but to cancel their trip after learning their accommodations were not secure.
Washington reportedly told many of her clients that she suffered from a medical emergency and that her bank account had been hacked. Still, many are demanding to be reimbursed. “Hopefully, we can get restitution for the money that we spent,” Adriana Williams told WSDU. “Especially me, I am out of $8,000 on top of the money that I paid for the package. It was the worst trip ever because I was stressed out my mind and so was the group I was with.”
Washington was released Aug. 5 from the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Grenta on a $45,000 bond. Her attorney is confident that Washington will be found not guilty. Nevertheless, her website is currently advertising Essence Festival vacation packages for 2019.
How To Avoid A Travel Scam in NOLA
In addition to doing diligent research, Essence Banks, the executive director of the New Orleans Multicultural Tourism Network (NOMTN), says vacation goers can avoid getting scammed by reaching out to their agency for recommendations to a reputable travel agency that will accommodate them professionally and enhance their visit to New Orleans in a way that will exceed all expectations.
Another piece of advice, “plan and book early,” she says. “This year, over half a million people attended [the Essence Festival] and it was the first year ever that all three nights were sold out. We don’t expect anything less next year,” says Banks. “NOMTN will work with visitors to help them plan their itinerary. There’s so much culture to enjoy in New Orleans. With a little lead time, a visitor could plan an off the beaten path experience in New Orleans and a lifetime of memories. As ‘Guardians of the Culture,’ NOMTN can point them in the right direction.”
The post Travel Agent Arrested for Ripping Off Essence Festival Attendees appeared first on Black Enterprise.
’90s kids, rejoice: most of your favorite Nicktoons are now available on NickSplat, a new streaming channel on VRV (the home of Crunchyroll).
Your childhood is now streaming! Check out @NickSplat now on VRV! pic.twitter.com/eLesX6VuhA
— VRV (@WatchVRV) August 28, 2018
And it’s not just Nicktoons they have on offer. NickSplat also boasts a number of Nickelodeon’s live-action shows of yore. (I didn’t audibly squeal when I saw Salute Your Shorts’ first season is available, but it was a near thing.)
Specific seasons of 21 shows are on the lineup. Animated offerings include the first two seasons of AAHHH!!! Real Monsters, ChalkZone, Doug, and Rocko’s Modern Life in addition to the debut seasons of The Angry Beavers, CatDog, KABLAM!, and The Wild Thornberrys.
Then we have the live action list, which is a bit more varied. It includes the first seasons of five game shows (Double Dare 2000, GUTS, Legends of the Hidden Temple, the 2016 Legends reboot, and Nick Arcade); the second season of All That and the first seasons of its two spinoffs Kenal & Kel and The Amanda Show; two seasons each of narrative oddballs Are You Afraid of the Dark? and The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo; the first seasons of Clarissa Explains It All and the aforementioned Salute Your Shorts; and season one of Hey Dude. (I’m putting Hey Dude last because I’m bitter it got a slot and Welcome Freshmen didn’t.)
A handful of shows—Hey Arnold! and Ren & Stimpy among them—are notably absent from the list. But given that this partnership between VRV and Nickelodeon is alive and well, I can’t imagine that’ll last. In the meantime, there’s more than enough to fill your days the same way you did every single summer throughout elementary school.
Which show are you most psyched to rewatch? Let us know in the comments!
Images: Nickelodeon
Horror fans were thrilled when it was first announced that Alvin Schwartz’s popular series Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark was going to become a Guillermo del Toro film. The horrendously creepy tales, accompanied by the unforgettable illustrations by Stephen Gammell, traumatized a whole generation of children and will continue to do so on the big screen.
While del Toro has since stepped down from the director role, he continues to be invovled as a writer and producer, giving his full support to the new director André Øvredal (The Autopsy of Jane Doe, Trollhunter). Del Toro is still credited as co-writer on the screenplay with Kevin and Dan Hageman (Lego Movie, Trollhunters), Patrick Melton, and Marcus Dunstan. Del Toro is also producing alongside Sean Daniel, Jason Brown, J. Miles Dale, and Elizabeth Grave.
The details of the project were still mostly under wraps, however, in regards to casting and plot. Today, CBS Films and eOne announced today the cast for Scary Stories, which will star Michael Garza (Wayward Pines), Austin Abrams (The Americans), Gabriel Rush (Moonrise Kingdom), Austin Zajur (Fist Fight), and Natalie Ganzhorn (Make it Pop). They also provided a synopsis, which reads:
“Inspired by one of the most terrifying book series of all time, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark follows a group of teens who must solve the mystery surrounding a wave of spectacularly horrific deaths in their small town. The five new cast members join the previously announced Zoe Colletti in the ensemble at the heart of the film.”
“We spent months searching for and assembling the perfect group of actors to help us realize the most terrifying adaptation that we could conceive,” said Øvredal. Del Toro adds, “I am honored to support Andre’s vision and, with our partners, to bring the incredible world of Scary Stories to the screen.”
Are you looking forward to seeing these teen solve some Scary Stories?
(via email, image: Harper & Row)
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