Utah travel agent sentenced in Willard High theft

A Utah travel agent who stole $360,000 from the Willard High School Band Boosters was sentenced yesterday to five years in federal prison without parole.

Calliope Saaga, 40, of Saratoga Springs, Utah, also was ordered to pay $782,480 in restitution, according to a news release from the office of Tammy Dickinson, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

Saaga, aka Ope, pleaded guilty in October to one count of wire fraud. He also pleaded guilty to a similar $272,500 fraud scheme involving a Fort Smith, Ark., school district, and a $149,980 fraud scheme involving a school district in West Memphis, Ark. He’s scheduled to be sentenced for those fraud schemes March 25 in the Western District of Arkansas. In total, Saaga’s victims lost $782,480.

In the Willard case, doing business as Present America Tours LLC, Saaga entered a contract with the booster club in January 2011 to arrange the details of a June 2012 band trip to Hawaii. The contract required Saaga to arrange for airfare, lodging, transportation, meals, tours and travel insurance for some 300 students and chaperones. For his services, the booster club wired to Saaga 12 payments of $30,000 each between February 2011 and January 2012, according to the release.

According to the sentencing, Saaga booked no reservations and instead used the funds for personal expenses, including at least 47 days of gambling in Las Vegas. While spending the money, he continued to email the Willard High School band director, leading boosters to believe the trip was on schedule.

The band trip was canceled, and the Willard High School Band Boosters lost $360,000 through the scheme, the release said.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Abram McGull II and was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation, the FBI and the Willard Police Department.[[In-content Ad]]