Updated 03/10/2010 06:25 PM
Charities are victims of alleged "Cruise Ship Holiday" scam
The owners of a business in Odgensburg are accused of duping several charities out of thousands of dollars. "Cruise Ship Holidays" has been under investigation for a while and police say victims from across the U.S. are coming forward. Our Sarah Hagen spoke with investigators and one North Country organization that believes it is also a victim.
To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
OGDENSBURG, N.Y. -- Linda Belanger and her husband Robert Belanger, both of Kingston, Ontario, have both been charged with grand larceny.
The Belangers are accused of selling cruise ship vacations to NYMEX Charity out of New York City. The trips were then auctioned off. The problem, police say, is "Cruise Ship Holidays" took the money and never booked the cruises.
The Jefferson County SPCA says it got duped too.
SPCA Marketing Director Linda Miles said, "He called me on the phone originally and then he visited me. They came and sold the cruise themselves at the auction."
Ogdensburg Police Detective Sergeant Harry McCarthy said, "They were kind of robbing Peter to pay Paul and by the time it came to provide the cruise, they no longer had the money."
The Belangers set up shop at 812 Proctor Avenue in the City of Ogdensburg, but police say the office was rarely used. Most sales were done via telephone and the internet, allowing this scam to move well beyond the region.
McCarthy said, "It was difficult in that the victims in California, Texas, when I finally found victims from New York, that is when the District Attorney agreed we could prosecute this case."
McCarthy says besides the obvious victims left without their cruise vacations, the other victims here are the charities who did nothing wrong but trust "Cruise Ship Holidays."
Miles said, "That is one of our concerns, we did research it, we usually do everything ourselves, we don't allow extra people in. But hoping we would increase our finances because everyone is tight, especially charities, we are all trying to find extra ways to make money. This really devastates us."
The investigation is still unfolding and more charges are pending.