Boodram’s Travel & Tours
Ship Ahoy Cruises Fraud Alleged
February 14, 2011
Vicky Boodram-Arjoonsingh of Boodram's Travel Tours and Ship Ahoy Cruises of Port Of Spain in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago must be getting that sinking feeling right about now.
Boodram was booking cruises for two voyages and suddenly nobody is getting their cruise, nor their money back and Carnival Corp has filed a lawsuit against her and her operations claiming copyright infringement related to the booking of the two voyages.
The cruises were suppose to embark in April and August 5.
Carnival Corporation, filed a lawsuit (1:11-cv-20269-KMM) at the Florida Southern District Court claiming ‘‘Trademark Infringement’’ before Judge K Michael Moore, and later referred to Judge Andrea M Simonton
The Court documents filed by Carnival Corporation’s attorney, Jorge A Mestre of Rivero Mestre LLP, also included a “Motion to Expedite’ the matter which was filed on January 31 by Plaintiff Counsel.
The summons was issued on January 24, 2011 to Vicky Boodram, Boodram’s Travel & Tours, Ship Ahoy Cruises, and also sent to the Director of US Patent and Trademark.
In its complaint, Carnival claims injunctive relief as well as monetary damages under various federal and state trademark protection statutes and also a claim for breach of the charter agreements and fraud in the inducement.
As alleged in the complaint, Boodram defaulted on the charter agreements when she failed to meet payment deadlines and presented Carnival with fraudulent letters of credit from a Wells Fargo bank in the U.S. that purported to guarantee a total of US$6.4 million, as well as a related letter from Republic Bank Limited in Trinidad, which Carnival later learned were never issued by the bank. The charters were canceled in January.
Carnival has asked federal judge Michael Moore in Miami to issue a preliminary and permanent injunction enjoining and restraining Boodram and her agencies to stop falsely representing that it is affiliated with or authorized by Carnival to sell or market any of its products and continuing to use Carnival's name, trademarks and logos.
An internet posting on January 16 stated that "Carnival Cruise Lines is disappointed that the two planned cruises aboard the Carnival Victory that were to operate from Trinidad in April and August 2011 were canceled due to the charterer's failure to fulfil its financial contractual obligations. Carnival has instructed the charterers to notify any affected customers and refund their money. Guests impacted by these cancellations should contact Boodram's Travel."
The cruises were planned for April and August aboard the Carnival Cruise Lines' Carnival Victory and more than 4,500 passengers were booked for the ships. However, reports say there were problems in getting the ships to dock at Port-of-Spain and that prompted the cancellation of the trips and subsequent promises that all passengers would be refunded. Passengers paid between $4,000 and $6,000 for the Carnival Victory cruises.
As the deal with Carnival fell apart, Boodram's started advertising a replacement cruise on Thomson Dream. This time, the cruise would be planned over seven days instead of five, as of a way of compensating for the confusion. But in court documents, Carnival said it contacted Thompson and was told there was no agreement with Boodram's either.
Some passengers got checks for refunds, which promptly bounce.
However, local reports say the police got involved when Vicky Boodram was forced to evacuate her office and seek police protection on February 1, after an irate passenger allegedly held her hostage at gunpoint, demanding a cash refund.
Boodram said she was fearful for her life after being held at gunpoint. She said on Monday around 6 pm, she was inside her office when a man walked in with a gun and pointed it at her. She added: “I told him if he shoots me or kills me, nobody will get their money. I do not plan to rob anybody of their money. I will pay back every cent.”
Boodram was held in police custody and questions for three days, before being released.
A notice placed on the door, gave the name Ramjass Boodram (Boodram-Arjoonsingh’s father) and his contact number and asked that all queries be referred to him. When the number was called, callers were told they had the wrong number. Ramjass Boodram is reportedly also a director of the travel firm.
Passengers are now fearful that Carnival Corp will seize any assets that can be grabbed, and the passengers won't get a dime of their money back, which is estimated at this date to be between $18,000,000 and $30,000,000.
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