Travel Agents Charged in Frequent Flier Fraud

The owners of a Woodland Hills travel agency were charged Tuesday by a federal grand jury with using an airline’s reservations computer to accumulate frequent flier miles under fictitious names, then selling the coupons for free flights they obtained.

For a year and a half, James R. Winkleman and Phillip R. Rinker, owners of North Ranch Travel Agency, allegedly altered passenger lists in American Airlines’ computer system so that mileage accumulated by travelers not enrolled in the airline’s frequent flier program was credited to fictitious names, the indictment said.

Winkleman and Rinker, both 35 and from Woodland Hills, and Brenton Mullins, 29, of Playa Del Rey, were each charged with 22 counts of conspiracy, wire and mail fraud, and use of fictitious names.