Police launch probe into tour operator Fisom

RIGA - The State Police have launched a probe into the scandal-hit tour operator Fisom to find out whether a criminal offence has been committed, LETA learned from the police.

As reported, dozens of children were stranded in Spain, while travelling with Fisom to a promised surfing camp in Portugal.

Due to Fisom's failure to meet its obligations and the liquidity problems, the Consumer Rights Protection Centre (PTAC), in accordance with the Cabinet of Ministers regulations, has decided to start returning the travelers to Latvia and accommodating them before their repatriation.

PTAC representatives informed that the 81 travelers are being successfully repatriated from Spain to Latvia and that the two buses will reach Riga on Monday.

Also last Saturday, August 10, the repatriation procedure was launched for a group of 66 tourists, including 55 minors, who travelled from Portugal to Latvia on a Fisom bus, but the bus broke down and the tour organizer was unable to take the travelers back to Latvia.

PTAC notes that the repatriation service providers managed to find available buses and the tourists are now continuing their journey back to Latvia. The group is expected to leave Warsaw on Monday evening.

The repatriation of three groups of travelers was started after Fisom proved unable to meet its obligations and the company was found to have liquidity problems.

Since PTAC has revoked the tour operator's licence, no further trips organized by this operator will take place. PTAC will inform clients about money recovery in the near future, as the priority at the moment is to bring home the stranded tourists, most of whom are children.

PTAC keeps in touch with the children's parents and the Foreign Ministry and will post more detailed information on the repatriation process and updates on its website.

As reported, last Thursday the insurance company Balcia received four applications from clients whose children had gone to a camp in Portugal, but the organizers went missing and the children did not return home, the insurer informed LETA. Balcia immediately started to deal with the situation by organizing transport to the airport and flights home for the children.

According to Balcia representatives, the Foreign Ministry and PTAC were immediately informed of the situation, offering the insurer's expert support in arranging a repatriation flight so that other children who are not Balcia's clients can be given the opportunity to return home as soon as possible.

According to Firmas.lv, Matiss Dalbergs is the Chairman of the Board of Fisom. In 2021, Fisom's turnover was EUR 117,615, while its profit amounted to EUR 41,749. In 2022, the company's turnover amounted to EUR 356,396, but it made a loss of EUR 33,452.