Toronto, 06 January 2009: At TICO's Annual General Meeting held at the Toronto Congress Centre on 24 June 2008, the members approved a motion for a public inquiry into the demise of One Step Travel, the claim on the Travel Industry Compensation Fund in excess of $1 million dollars, the largest in history, and the manner in which TICO handled the case.

A Task Force of six TICO Registrants was convened and has met three times to discuss matters relating to the case. ARTA Canada has agreed to help coordinate the Task Force's activities. The Task Force wishes to provide the following interim report to TICO's retail and wholesale Registrants:

1. On 10 December 2008, a copy of the transcript of the trial (23-25 June 2008) of Mazdak Anvari, owner of One Step Travel, was released by the Ontario Court of Justice and was obtained by the Task Force. TICO's own testimony has revealed a number of relevant facts, now in the public record:

a) One Step Travel was late in filing its annual financial statements with TICO in each and every year, for all of the ten years in which financial statements were due, beginning with the year 1996.

b) One Step Travel did not have sufficient working capital in seven of the ten years it reported financial statements; in some years having "negative" working capital - for example, in 2002, One Step was deficient in working capital by $80,000.00 and in 2003, the agency was deficient in working capital by $90,000.00.

c) TICO's legal counsel testified that TICO was not alleging nor intending to prove that the One Step Travel matter was a fraud or a criminal matter. This is contrary to what was stated at the TICO AGM by TICO officials who advised members that the case was indeed a fraud perpetrated by Mr. Anvari.

d) The Ontario Court of Justice found that TICO itself had allowed One Step Travel to be non-compliant for years by allowing the agency to continue to file late financial statements and by failing to insist that the agency immediately bring its working capital to the proper level each and every time the financial statements were due. The Court stated that TICO failed to sanction One Step Travel for any of the violations regarding its late financial statements and deficient working capital.

e) The Court did not agree to TICO's request to impose the maximum jail sentence under the Travel Industry Act on Mr. Anvari (two years less one day), but instead, imposed 18 months imprisonment.

f) The Court explained its sentence by advising TICO that had TICO sanctioned One Step Travel earlier on that the offences might not have resulted.

2. On 16 December 2008, the Task Force sent TICO Registrar Michael Pepper a letter asking TICO to reply to various questions regarding the One Step Travel matter. The Task Force asked for a reply from TICO on/before Monday, 05 January 2009.

3. On 19 December 2008, Mr. Pepper advised the Task Force that he would discuss the Task Force's request with the TICO Board of Directors at its meeting on 27 January 2009.