Prosecutors have charged a Chinatown travel agent with 49 counts of second-degree theft for allegedly taking a total of $130,000 in cash from numerous customers, then failing to provide the airline tickets to the Philippines as agreed upon.

Ligaya C. Baldugo, who operated Coloma's Travel Service at 1137 River St., was charged Jan. 12 by felony information with second-degree theft of cash paid by customers.

Baldugo failed to maintain a client trust account, as required by law, and failed to make payment to the airline providing services to her customers, according to a court-filed declaration by police.

Baldugo allegedly took in money in increments of $300 from April 1, 2008, to Dec. 30.

She gave customers a receipt with an itinerary listing the date of travel but did not provide any tickets or vouchers to customers. Baldugo represented that the itinerary was all that was needed to check in with an airline representative, according to court documents.

When Baldugo's customers tried to check in for their flights, they were denied boarding by airline representatives and were told there were no reservations in their names for any flight to the Philippines, court documents said.

Some customers confronted Baldugo at the travel agency, demanding refunds, while others wrote letters and made phone calls, and she failed to respond, police said.

Some customers paid her thousands of dollars to buy tickets for themselves and their family members. Customer Lani Arellano paid $4,480 for seven airline tickets for herself and her family, police said.