The owner of a Saco travel agency who took thousands of dollars from clients for trips she never booked pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Portland to federal charges of mail fraud and wire fraud.

Beth Rogers, 45, of Saco, waived her right to be prosecuted in a hearing before Judge Nancy Torresen and agreed to plead guilty before she had been formally charged with the crimes.

As owner of TravelWise Cruises and Tours, Rogers would book individual clients and companies with tour operators, hotels, airlines, cruise companies and other businesses, according to a prosecution document filed with the court Tuesday.

“Beginning in late 2011, however, Rogers began taking client money without making travel reservations for those clients. She instead used the clients’ money to pay for the travel of other TravelWise clients. Rogers continued to misapply client money in this fashion until mid-2012, when her scheme was discovered,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Wolff said in the document.

In some cases in which clients paid Rogers by mail or in person, she deposited the money in a bank account but failed to book the travel, Wolff wrote.

In other cases, Rogers used client credit card account numbers to pay for a second client’s travel without the first client’s permission, according to the prosecution document.

As part of the plea agreement, Rogers agreed that her offenses involved 50 or more victims. Court document only detail $8,047 associated with two victims associated with the two counts, but the U.S. Attorney’s Office said that the total loss she caused her clients will be determined by the court through a presentencing investigation.

Rogers was allowed to remain free on personal recognizance bond pending her sentencing on July 10. She faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of as much as $250,000 for each of the charges.


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