PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – An independent travel associate is facing grand theft charges after local authorities say she swindled thousands of dollars from customers. Janet Bender was charged Friday with a dozen counts of grand fraud.

Jennifer Smith was ready to set sail on the trip of her dreams when she booked with Bender last year. “We were going to eight different destinations, places that are on people’s bucket list,” Smith said.

It was supposed to be a 12-day cruise across the Mediterranean. Smith was joining her mom and three friends, she thought. “All together, each person was probably about $8,000 – $9,000,” she said.

But they never got on the boat. When the women arrived in Spain, they learned their cruise did not exist, Smith said.

“She said, ‘Due to the unrest in Greece, you are not going on your cruise tomorrow,'” Smith said. “My first thought was, ‘What the heck.'”

It took the group four days to find a way home. Now, almost a year later, Smith has joined with eight other victims who say Bender took advantage of them.

The number to Cruise One-Gonzalez and Associates, where Bender worked, is disconnected. Cruise One Corporate released a statement which says in part, “We are very concerned about these unfortunate situations.” The company also said it’s cooperating with law enforcement.

Smith doubts she’ll ever see that cruise or the money she paid. “A refund and a resolution is all I’m asking for and still until this day, fighting over the resolution and refund,” she said.

Pinellas Park police arrested Bender this past March after another complaint.WHAT OTHERS ARE CLICKING ON RIGHT NOW: