If you’ve been active on the Bali Expats or Bali Crime Reports Facebook pages at all lately, you’ve probably seen some prolific posts making waves about Chivonne Betts, an Australian travel agent who has ripped off countless clients. If you haven’t, just look for the super unflattering head shots of the woman pictured above as a bottle blonde and brunette.
This afternoon, there were a number of posts with a great graphic of Betts’ face photoshopped with a tropical island in the background and the big block letters written out: “Gotcha!”. Fair enough, this made us and some other Facebookers think Betts had finally been located by police. Turns out the scamming lady is still out there and the Australian broadcast program A Current Affair had us going for a minute with their report.
Yes, the show tracked Betts down to some restaurant in Brisbane, where they kept showing a shot of her eating, but nothing really came out of the report and there was no big arrested moment on camera. Apparently the Victorian police’s investigation is still ongoing and Betts has not been apprehended yet despite this entertaining TV programming. ACA alleges Betts is using her network of family and friends across Australia to hide out.
Premiering this evening on the Australian news program in a paparazzi chase-like fashion, the reporters hounded Betts with questions like, “You’re not sorry at all?” and “Are you going to keep on running?”. Betts of course didn’t say anything interesting and just dodged the cameras and questions.
The hunt for Betts has been going on the last few months to a viral level with thousands of people following the story. To get an idea of the scale of just how much Betts allegedly took from her clients, ACA lays it out like this: one couple booked a wedding package through Betts for $8,000, then had 30 of their friends book through the company for their flights and accommodation. This is just one of many complaints lodged against Betts. Forums across the internet, including on TripAdvisor warn against using her company, which apparently is not legally licensed in Australia.
RELATED ‘A Current Affair’ got it wrong: 60 wedding guests scammed, not 30, says Chivonne Betts victim
Complaints against Betts seemed to mainly be made by Aussie travelers and destination wedding hopefuls who were expecting to splash around in Bali. They had booked flights and hotels through Bali Indulgence only to find out there were no real reservations made in their name. Sounds a lot like the Perth-based wedding planning company Bali D’Luxe that just folded after cleaning clients’ pockets, albeit for reportedly different reasons.
Let’s just say the tagline of that A Current Affair report had us fooled and disappointed too along with these commenters. Betts is still out there and all we’ve got is some footage of her eating…
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