SAN DIEGO—A San Diego-based travel agent has been charged with embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars paid by more than 150 parents for school trips that were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Marie Colette Martin, 52, is accused of spending the funds on personal expenses rather than refunding them to parents after the trips were canceled.
She has pleaded not guilty to 27 felony counts of grand theft and seller of travel violations. Prosecutors allege more than $415,000 was embezzled in total.
In a statement, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said, “More than 150 California families set aside their hard-earned money to give their children the educational opportunity of a lifetime. Instead, the trip was canceled, and their money disappeared.”…