Adelaide travel agent arrested for duping customers; Payday lending under review: Midday Roundup

An Adelaide travel agent has been arrested after allegedly cancelling customers’ tickets and using the refunded money for her own purposes, according to News Corp.

Zeljka Loncar, the owner of Zym Travel, will appear in the Port Adelaide Magistrates Court next month after more than 20 customers complained to authorities that their bookings had been cancelled without their knowledge.

The incident is the latest in a string of complaints aimed at small travel agencies across the country. 

Last month a Fremantle-based travel agency came under scrutiny when its customers were left stranded in Eastern Europe after discovering their return flights had not been booked despite paying the travel agent in full.

In June customers of a travel agency in Colac had their holidays ruined after discovering their agent had disappeared without booking their flights.

Payday lending under review

The federal government has launched a review into the laws which govern payday lending.

Launched by Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg today, the five-month review is part of a crackdown into payday lending which will likely see increased scrutiny on companies that charge high interest rates on short-term loans.

In a statement on his website, Frydenberg said the review aims to examine and report on the effectiveness of the laws relating to small amount credit contract laws.

“The government wants to ensure that the regulatory framework strikes the right balance by protecting vulnerable consumers without imposing an undue regulatory burden on industry,” he said.

The review will also consider the law applying to consumer leases, which allow a customer to lease an item until the end of the lease term.

The review will be chaired by chief executive of Equipsuper, Danielle Press, who will be assisted by deputy chair of Funds Management Victoria, Catherine Walter and Stephen Cavanagh, partner at HWL Ebsworth.

Shares down on open

Tristan K’Nell, head of trading at Quay Equities, said in a statement a number of factors are contributing to the poor performance of Australia’s share market this morning.

“The Australian Share Market [is] deep in the red to end the week with a weak lead from Wall Street combining with the anticipated decline in the financial sector on the back of ANZ’s capital raising announcement from yesterday,” K’Nell said.

“Also adding to the weakness was spot Iron Ore and Crude Oil again seeing declines overnight. Market turnover into lunch was strong at $1.9 billion with plenty of action amongst the big banks and miners.”

The S&P/ASX200 benchmark was down 1.83%, falling 100.8 points to 5509.3 points at 12.08pm AEST. On Thursday, the Dow Jones closed down 0.69%, falling 120.72 points to 17,419.75.