A New Orleans woman has been arrested for reportedly scamming dozens of 2018 Essence Festival attendees out of tens of thousands of dollars. Now y’all know sisters don’t play when it comes to Essence Fest, so this woman is learning her lesson the hard way!
According to NOLA.com, Nakesia Washington, owner of OBL Travel in Jefferson Parish, was arrested for not delivering vacation packages to the annual event, including promised hotel reservations, party passes and concert tickets. Detectives are estimating that the reported losses are about $80,000.
Washington was booked and charged with theft of more than $25,000, theft valued between $5,000 and $24,999, and two counts of computer fraud. As additional cases come in, investigators are expecting for the monetary losses to grow and for Washington to potentially face more criminal charges.
According to Black Enterprise, Washington’s website is currently still advertising vacation packages for next year’s festival.
