Rachel Baines’ life was completely transformed as a result of an INTERPOL Red Notice.
Rachel* was a 28 year-old who had been employed as cabin crew for two airlines based in the Middle East. Whilst living there she took out a small loan to buy a car and gave a cheque as security. Unfortunately Rachel injured her foot and whilst on sick leave she left the country, which resulted in her losing her job.
With no form of employment, Rachel was unable to keep up the loan repayments. The cheque was cashed but bounced, a criminal offence in many Middle Eastern countries. The bank notified prosecutors and an arrest warrant was issued. In January 2012, the national authorities succeeded in obtaining an Interpol Red Notice against Rachel for defaulting on her loan repayment.
During this time, Rachel had moved back to the UK and taken a job with another airline working on transatlantic flights. Her work required a US visa but in May 2012 this was suddenly revoked due to the Red Notice. Rachel was suspended from her job and told to resolve the issue. On unpaid leave, she was forced to move back in with her parents while she attempted to get the notice removed. However in October 2012, Rachel was officially dismissed from the airline as the issue was still unresolved.
With the help of Fair Trials, Rachel was able to have the records INTERPOL held on her deleted, but this was not before losing what had been a promising career.
*Names have been changed for confidentiality.