Agent jailed after passengers were stranded
Company boss gets 18 months for fraud and deception
A travel agent has been jailed for 18 months after using customers’ money to try and keep his ailing business running.
Michael Pool, 45, the owner of Travel Solutions, in Cambridge, left customers thousands of pounds out of pocket – and many of them were left stranded in foreign countries, Cambridge Crown Court heard.
The Cambridge Evening News, reporting the case, tells how one couple paid more than £4,000 for a holiday in Canada and were told to collect the tickets at Heathrow airport, but when they arrived at the airport there had been no booking made. They contacted Pool, who paid for the tickets, but when they arrived in Canada there was no accommodation or onward transport booked. The court heard that many others suffered similar problems.
Pool admitted his crime as soon as he was arrested, and claimed he had not taken any money himself but was merely trying to keep his business afloat. His lawyer said he was “robbing Peter to pay Paul”.
The Cambridge Evening News reports that Pool blamed his downturn in business on a fire in the premised next door, which made it look as if the agency was closed. The agent admitted seven charges of fraud and deception and asked for 13 more to be taken into account.
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