Bucharest police search homes of travel agency head over fraud against 18 clients

What the investigation alleges

Bucharest police have searched two homes in the capital in a criminal case involving holiday packages. In a statement issued on Wednesday, 4 November 2026, the police said a 44-year-old woman who administers a company acting as a travel intermediary is suspected of misleading 18 people between 16 December 2024 and 1 July 2026. Investigators say she used vouchers, travel package sales contracts, proof of payment, receipts and invoices to make the clients believe their trips had been properly booked. The clients paid either a deposit or the full cost of stays in Romanian resorts and in international destinations, including Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece. The woman is under investigation for fraud, and no court has ruled on the allegations.

How the bookings collapsed

According to the police, reservations were cancelled on various pretexts after the money had been received. Other clients only learned on arrival at the accommodation that no booking existed in their name, and the agency refused to refund what they had paid. Some hotel staff told guests the reservation had lapsed because the full amount had not been passed on to the accommodation. Clients who phoned the agency were told that their transaction could not be completed. Investigators say the payments went into several bank accounts belonging to both the company and the woman.

Licence and losses

The company's operating licence was withdrawn in September 2025, which falls inside the period under investigation. Police put the damage at approximately 165,140 lei, and the figure reflects the amounts the 18 people paid as deposits or in full. Judicial sources cited in the reporting said the licence withdrawal was the same date the agency stopped operating legitimately, while the clients kept paying for trips that were not secured. The case is being handled as fraud, which is the offence cited in the police statement and in the court-related reporting.

Searches and next steps

On Wednesday, officers from the police's Sector 4 unit carried out the two home searches in Bucharest. The woman was located and taken to the headquarters of the Central Criminal Investigation Service for questioning. The police said the legal measures required by the case would be applied to her afterwards, without specifying which measures. The investigation continues under the supervision of the prosecutor's office attached to the Sector 4 Court. Investigators have not yet said how many more clients may come forward, and the 18 people named in the case have not been identified publicly.