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Promoters face jail over £1m airline ticket fraud
Ben Bailey1 Jul 2009
Three concert promoters were facing jail today after admitting a £1 million airline ticket fraud to fly in musicians and models for Salsa events across Europe.
Michael Sanchez, 29, Rashid Hammou, 38, and Paul Kelly, 53, launched the scam after taking over a respectable family-run travel agents and hijacking its reputation.
Apart from enjoying a string of sunshine holidays abroad, the crooked trio also used the virtually endless supply of tickets to wipe out most of the overheads for their Bolivian-based concert promotion business Adrian Exclusive.
Over the months dozens of musicians and models were flown in from Bolivia for a string of concerts and promotional fashion shots across Britain and the rest of the Continent.
The City of London Police economic crime department launched an investigation into the scam nearly two years ago.
A team of detectives visited the premises of Flights International Southend Ltd in Rayleigh, Essex, which until it was bought from the family that spent "generations" building it up, enjoyed a good credit rating.
Inquiries first showed that between March 27 and August 31, when they were arrested, the gang issued themselves numerous business class and economy tickets for a string of holidays in north and south America and much of Europe.
After discovering that they had also issued a large number in connection with the concerts, investigators found the men had traded on the travel company's reputation to order branded T-shirts and towels for the models as well as an array of state-of-the art televisions and other electrical luxuries for themselves.
With the arrests of the three defendants, together with that of a fourth man, the travel agents soon foundered.
To begin with all those detained were charged with fraudulent trading, two counts of conspiracy to launder money and one of conspiracy to defraud.
But shortly before their trial at London's Southwark Crown Court, Sanchez and Hammou, both of Eltham, south-east London, and Kelly, from nearby Lewisham, admitted the conspiracy to defraud charge but denied the others.
After telling the court their pleas were acceptable, Jane Bickerstaffe, prosecuting, said the Crown had decided to offer no evidence against co-defendant Robert Balcazar-Rivero, 31, also from Eltham, who denied all four counts.
Judge Gregory Stone ordered formal not guilty verdicts to be recorded and told him he was free to go.
He then adjourned the case against the others - all of whom were remanded in custody - until July 28 so pre-sentence reports could be prepared.
Outside court, case officer Detective Sergeant Mark Broughton said: "To some this might appear a glamorous, victimless crime with musicians, models and family members flying around the globe for concerts, fashion shoots and luxury holidays.
"The truth is the actions of Sanchez, Hammou and Kelly cost the airline industry more than £1 million, left people out of work, and destroyed the reputation of a family business built up over two generations.
"The City of London Police welcomes the fact that, faced with overwhelming evidence against them, the three men have entered guilty pleas."
Reader views (2)
As the old saying goes it takes one to know one! People trusted them perhaps that is why they did what did they thought they would not caught. Any way at least some people had a holiday just think of other people that ended up with nothing!!!
- Lola, uk, 14/08/2009 21:53
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concerning the point on family members flying on luxury holidays - on at least one account the family members paid 30,000 themselves for the holiday. some of the defendants entered the business with good faith, but a bad egg has destroyed lives and businesses.
- Hem, uk, 26/07/2009 21:09
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