Moldovan model mistaken for hookers says they were deported from the Bahamas for not having a return ticket

A Moldovan businesswoman says her sister was denied entry to the Bahamas because she didn’t have a return ticket home, sparking allegations she was a prostitute – and complained she had to fly back to London in economy class.

Ina Pînzaru, 36, traveled to the tropical island with her sister Darina, 25, in preparation for her younger sister’s engagement to Miami real estate developer Hal ‘Nuby’ Sears, 64.

The Moldovan sisters, who hold Romanian passports, say they “went through hell” at the hands of immigration officials at Lynden Pindling International Airport in Nassau, who threatened to put them in jail.

Ina, who works in the family’s tailor shop in the Moldovan capital, told DailyMail.com that she and her sister had begged to be told why they were being held – but were simply told: ‘we know your culture – we don’t want to you in our country’.

Ina cleared immigration after explaining that she had booked an onward flight to the Turks and Caicos Islands, but ran into trouble when she went to find out why Darina was being held up by another official.

She said, “It was complete hell to be honest. We had taken a nine hour flight from London and then had to get an eight hour flight back after a long wait at the airport.

“We arrived on business and we were sent back on a bus, and they even gave us different seats on the plane.

My sister was crying and super upset, the ladies on the plane were nice to us and tried their best to give us adjacent seats.

“It took us three days when we landed back in London to recover emotionally from what had happened. It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime, but it was absolute hell.”

According to Ina, her sister’s immigration raised red flags because they didn’t have a return flight to London or “their country of origin.”

Ina claims they were questioned about their onward tickets to Turks and Caicos – which the Bahamas immigration website says all travelers must have a valid onward or return ticket to enter the country.

But then the staff told them, ‘We know your culture, we know why you’re here – and we don’t want you here’.

The sisters believe the staff thought they were Eastern European sex workers, something they vehemently deny, saying the whole ordeal has left them devastated.

Ina says that they were escorted to the plane by three officials, who only handed over their belongings at the plane door.

Darina gets the proposal of her dreams in Amsterdam and her boyfriend sends a complaint to the Bahamas embassy in London upon her return.

But there has been no response from government officials there, nor have they responded to requests for comment from DailyMail.com.

The sisters traveled to the Maldives and Bali with Sears instead of their island hopping trip on his 22m yacht with ten friends as planned.

But they said their exile from the Bahamas left them with a “bitter taste” in their mouths.

Ina told DailyMail.com: “We were not given any additional information about what was going on, and at one point they told us we were going to jail.

“The woman said ‘they’re not coming in’ and then all hell broke loose. We could prove we had a transit ticket, but they didn’t care.

“They were rude and dismissive and arrogant. They wouldn’t let us pay for new tickets in cash or access our phones to use Apple Pay.

“I asked why we weren’t allowed in because we made sure we knew all the rules before entering and they wouldn’t tell us.

“They threatened us with jail time and we asked what we would have done, but they wouldn’t tell us.

“It was unacceptable, it’s the first denial I’ve ever had in my life and I’ve been traveling since I was 10.

“We never heard from the Bahamian embassy in London again, which I don’t understand. All we want is a response from them.

“I asked them if it was a permanent ban and they said no, and I think it’s strange that we had this experience when our friends said they expected more from the US and their immigration.

“For me personally, it’s an unfinished business. I’d like to go back to prove a point, but other than that I have no great desire to go there.

‘There are plenty of beautiful places where you are not treated like criminals for nothing. I still don’t get it, it felt like a random act of violence for no reason.’

Sears met Darina in Romania last summer, and the pair quickly fell in love, and the original plan was for the pair to travel on his $5 million Pershing 7X yacht on a journey that would take them through the Bahamas and to Turks and Caicos.

He hurried from the Four Seasons’ Ocean Club Resort where he was staying with the hotel’s head of security to help the sisters after they called him.

The real estate developer later filed a complaint on behalf of the two sisters with the Bahamian embassy in London, but had not yet heard back.