ABTA assest recovery

Posted on April 4th, 2008 in Travel news plus deals

We have been urging you to book holidays direct with the Tour operators, as deals that “look to good be to be true” generally speaking are “too good to be true”.

As innocent holidaymakers found out when they fell victim to holiday fraud.

ABTA is considering working with a company that specialises in asset recovery to try and recoup the money it paid out to customers defrauded by a gang of bogus travel agents.

ABTA - along with the CAA and credit card companies - refunded thousands of customers who booked holidays at five travel agencies set up by Peter Kemp, Christakis Philippou, Evangelia Liogka and Timothy Entwisle.

The group sold high volumes of discounted holidays before going out of business and leaving holidaymakers empty handed.

Head of financial services Mike Monk met the company last week to find out how the process would work, how much it could cost and whether it was a viable option.

A spokeswoman for ABTA said: “We’re trying to turn the court victory into a cash recovery.”

The gang, who were found guilty in February after an eight week trial, face sentencing on April 17.