ABTA chief executive Ian Reynolds has spoken candidly of
the pressure on him to resign in the wake of the alleged £1
million fraud case involving former legal chief Riccardo
Nardi.
Speaking at the ABTA Convention in Orlando, Reynolds told Travel
Weekly that despite the fact the ABTA brand was still trusted by
consumers, ABTA members must be wondering what has gone on.
He said: “I understand the ABTA brand in the eyes of our members
has fallen. But in the eyes of the customer it still holds.
“However, members must be wondering what the hell’s going
on.
“We have some very critical members, some of whom think I should
have been fired. I can see why they think that, but we have learnt
from our problems.
“We’ve taken action and had people in to look at our
claims procedures.”
Later, during ABTA’s opening session, hosted by conference
moderator and television presenter John Stapleton, Reynolds told
the 1,600 conference delegates he accepted responsibility for the
alleged fraud by Nardi.
Nardi is accused of taking more than £1 million out of ABTA
since the mid-1990s. His wife, Samantha Nardi, is accused of
involvement in the alleged scam.
“It has been a huge regret to myself and to my colleagues, and I
accept responsibility for what has happened.
“Had you asked me this time last year whether we’d
experienced fraud at ABTA I would have said no, but you can never
say never.
“I hope members will see we have learnt from it and taken steps
to recover the money. Judge us on how we’ve dealt with it,”
added Reynolds.