Travel firm boss is jailed for Torquay holiday scam
ATRAVEL firm boss has been jailed after scamming vulnerable pensioners out of their savings with the promise of a holiday to sunny Torquay – which never happened.
Anthony Taylor, 57, from Willenhall, conned more than £65,000 from hundreds of elderly people across the Black Country through his company TT Tours.
The callous con merchant targeted vulnerable victims by visiting senior citizens’ clubs offering a five-day coach holiday to Torquay, which included travel, hotel, five-course evening meal, free evening bar and excursions, for just £99.
Three hundred customers booked onto the trip, which was due to depart on February 17, 2020, and only discovered they had been duped when they turned up with their suitcases and found no coaches waiting for them.
In reality, Taylor funnelled their money into his private bank account and used it to fund lavish five-star hotel stays in London, gambling, restaurants and payments to a girlfriend.
Wolverhampton Crown Court heard he set up the business in Bilston Indoor Market in July 2019 and hired an unsuspecting assistant, who “in good faith” helped recruit customers and plan trips across the UK to destinations including Bournemouth, Blackpool and York.
To back up the scam, Taylor showed his customers doctored letters which appeared to promise full refunds should the trip be cancelled.
However, there was no financial protection plan in place and the customers lost all their money. The court accepted his assistant was completely innocent of any wrongdoing and
had been tricked by Taylor, who disappeared, leaving his hapless helper to break the news to devastated customers that their holiday had been cancelled.
Enquiries revealed that the promised hotels in Torquay had never received any bookings and never heard of Taylor or TT Tours.
Some of the conned customers were frail and vulnerable due to old age, some had mobility issues and required special medical care such as oxygen.
TT Tours had never filed any accounts and had no business bank account. He had previously pleaded guilty to fraudulent trading and two other offences under trading standards legislation.
Taylor, of Mount Road, Portobello, was sentenced to four years in prison after being given credit for his early guilty plea.
He was also banned from being a company director for 10 years.
In sentencing Taylor, Judge Mr Recorder Marc Brown described the offences as “a prolonged and despicable deception of vulnerable elderly people, depriving them of what little money they had, whilst raising their
hopes and ultimately leaving them out of pocket and disappointed as they received nothing in return”.
Trading standards officers set up a stall in Bilston Town Hall to support Taylor’s victims and investigate the case.
Cllr Steve Evans, City of Wolverhampton Council’s cabinet member for city environment, said: “Taylor has been sent to prison and justice has been done for the hundreds of mainly vulnerable, elderly victims who he conned out of their money, left stranded and with no holiday.
“This was a brazen fraud on a large scale from somebody who clearly is without morals and is clearly not fit to run a business.
“It will have added insult to injury to his victims that Taylor used their money to pay for his own luxury holidays in five-star London hotels.
“With so many victims, this was a huge case for our trading standards team to investigate and I want to pay tribute to their diligence and hard work in successfully bringing this matter to court, especially during a pandemic.”
A proceeds of crime hearing will take place in the New Year.
This was a brazen fraud on a large scale from somebody who clearly is without morals Cllr Steve Evans