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player ready...A woman operating a travel promotion business out of her home was arrested on charges of wire fraud and mail fraud last week.
Thelma Gist, 54, of 16148 S. Honore St., Markham, was charged with defrauding customers of her various travel businesses out of $350,000 between January 1991 and December 1993.
In a hearing Friday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Joan B. Gottschall released Gist on $50,000 bond and continued the hearing until Monday. Gottschall ordered that Gist wear a home-monitoring device and that she not leave her home during the weekend.
Assistant U.S. Atty. Patricia Holmes argued that Gist should be kept at the Metropolitan Correctional Center because the FBI had received reports that Gist had threatened some of the alleged victims of the fraud.
Holmes also said evidence suggested Gist used several aliases. She said that because a complete criminal background check on those names had not been completed, incarceration over the weekend was appropriate.
John Theis, Gist’s attorney, argued that Gist should be released. He said Gist had not made any threats, but had been threatened herself.
Gist told the court that members of her church, some of whom had signed up for trips she’d arranged, had threatened her.
According to the criminal complaint filed Friday, Gist allegedly defrauded customers by accepting payments for flights, accommodations or cruises and then failing to deliver the promised service.
Gist operated a number of different companies, including Travel Haven, Jackson Enterprises and Ocean Aweigh, despite being banned by the Illinois attorney general from acting as a travel promoter.
According to the complaint, Gist took money from people for cruises, but never made the arrangements. She sent travelers to hotels that did not exist, and she used phony names in dealing both with customers and travel companies.
Some customers complained that after using a credit card to pay Gist for trips, other unauthorized charges would appear on their credit card statements.
One of Gist’s clients charged two tickets for a cruise, but never received them. When the customer called the credit card company, she learned that another individual had taken the cruise.
In one instance, according to the complaint, Gist advertised a 7-day cruise aboard a ship departing from Puerto Rico. The cost of the cruise, including air fare from Chicago, was listed at $719.
A woman who represented 36 other travelers met with Gist and paid her $25,884 for the August 1991 trip. According to the complaint, 30 of the 36 people never received the tickets or a refund.
If Gist is convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each charge.