The fraudsters found guilty of defrauding thousands of holidaymakers will be forced to pay back at least £2million of their assets, Southwark Crown Court ruled today.
Evangelia Liogka, who ran the groups’ call centres, must pay more than £2 million within ten months or face a six year prison sentence. Most of that sum will come from the sale of her £2.7 million home in Knightsbridge.
Meanwhile, Peter Kemp must pay back £213,228 within six months. Kemp was the only defendent to make a guilty plea.
Accountant Timothy Entwisle has been instructed to pay just £100 out of the £250,000 assets he accumulated fraudulently. He will face five days in prison if he fails to pay.
The ringleader, Christakis Phillippou, has contested his amount. He agrees to having assets of £5.5million, but the court believes he may have “hidden” assets up to £31 million. There will be a further hearing on Thursday to decide Phillippou’s case.
Kemp and Entwisle will all be released with tagging within a month, while Liogka is expected to be released at the beginning of May.
The claimants include ABTA, the CAA, credit card companies, the liquidators for Ciao Travel and individual holidaymakers who paid with cash or cheque. The court has received claims totalling £11.6million, while ABTA is owed more than £1 million.
Judge Andrew Goymer said the 150 holidaymakers who lost their money would take priority. “These were decent law abiding people, many of whom were on limited incomes. They will be the first priority then it may be necessary to look at apportionment among the trade and corporate bodies.”
Christakis Philippou, 62, of Bark Place, Bayswater; Evangelia Liogka, 38, of Montpelier Place, Knightsbridge; and Timothy Entwisle, 56, of Ludworth, Dorset were found guilty of conspiring to defraud thousands of holidaymakers in February last year. They were sentenced to a total of 18 years in jail.
The group set up five separate companies between July 2003 and August 2006 and sold high volumes of discounted holidays. They pocketed customers’ money before closing down and leaving them empty-handed.
- More fraud coverage at travelweekly.co.uk/fraud