Fraudsters: Evangelia Liogka and Christakis Philippou conned thousands of people into buying their 'bargain holidays'

Accountant Timothy Entwistle, 57, who lived in an 11-bedroom mansion near Yeovil, Somerset, and educated his three children at public school despite being a declared bankrupt, masterminded the finances.
Accountant: Timothy Entwistle lived a luxury lifestyle in a £1m mansion

Fraudsters: Evangelia Liogka and Christakis Philippou conned thousands of people into buying their 'bargain holidays'Instead, the £7million they handed over collectively went into the pockets of crooked travel agents who masterminded a three-year scam to fund lavish lifestyles.Some customers ended up in the resort of their choice before finding out that their booking didn't exist.Groups who went to Cyprus were branded illegal immigrants when they turned out to have nowhere to stay.Others arrived at UK airports to be told their names weren't on the flight list.Many found their tickets didn't arrive as expected two weeks before their planned departure date.When they called the travel company, the phone number no longer worked and they could find no trace of the firm.Victims included honeymooners, a seriously-ill man taking his dream holiday, a couple celebrating their silver wedding and a group of disabled children.John Reynolds, the former Lord Provost of Aberdeen, the city's mayor, was duped two years running.Police started investigating following a flood of complaints in the wake of the alleged transatlantic airline bomb plot in the summer of 2006.Concerned about their flights, dozens of worried travellers called the bogus firm to get advice but the fraudsters had already shut it down.The ringleader was Christakis Philippou, 64, a Cypriot with dual British nationality.He worked with his mistress Evangelia Liogka, 40, also a Cypriot. The couple share a £3million townhouse in Chelsea.He has since moved to Chilcombe, Dorset. He and Philippou were found guilty at Southwark Crown Court yesterday of five charges of conspiring to defraud customers of a travel business that they took over dishonestly.
Liogka was found guilty of four counts of conspiring to defraud customers. She was cleared of one other count.
A fourth person, travel agent Peter Kemp, 52, from Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud at an earlier hearing.
The gang will be sentenced in April.The group made nearly £7million between 2003 and 2006 by setting up travel companies which would initially trade legally, either on the internet or on Teletext, attracting business with bargain holidays in Greece, Spain and Cyprus.

Alleged arms merchant Monzer Al Kassar has been extradited from Spain to the United States

A long-time Spanish resident known as the "Prince of Marbella" for his opulent lifestyle, Al Kassar is charged in a federal indictment unsealed last June with conspiring to kill Americans, supply terrorists, obtain anti-aircraft missiles and launder money, the police said.US officials confirm that alleged arms merchant Monzer Al Kassar has been extradited from Spain to the United States. He arrived in the here this morning.
Al Kassar allegedly armed terrorist groups, including the Palestinian Liberation Front, and in the past has been accused of arming the Palestinian terrorists who in 1985 hijacked the Italian cruise liner Achille Lauro. He was acquitted by Spain's high court in 1995 of a charge of piracy in connection with the 1985 hijacking of the Italian cruise liner Achille Lauro by Palestinian guerrillas. Now, he faces new terrorism charges and a trial in the United States. Arrested on June 8, 2007 at the Madrid airport in Spain in a sting operation orchestrated by US Drug Enforcement Administration agents, Al Kassar was held on terrorism charges issued by a U.S. court, Spain's National Police said at the time.

"Since the early 1970s, Al Kassar has been a source of weapons and military equipment for armed factions engaged in violent conflicts around the world. Some of these factions have included known terrorist organizations, such as the Palestinian Liberation Front, the goals of which included attacking United States interests and United States nationals," said Michael Garcia, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Al Kassar is alleged by the U.S. to have supplied arms to the Colombian narcoterrorist organization FARC. The U.S. indictment also alleges he ran an international network of co-conspirators, falsified the end-user certificates required to ship arms and laundered his money through numerous dummy companies.

Benalmádena 34 cars and four motorbikes were burned out

34 cars and four motorbikes were burned out in a fire in the early hours of Friday which took place outside the Tio Charles urbanisation in Benalmádena.
The blaze started just after 4,10 am and was declared to be extinguished just after three hours later. Firemen from Benalmádena and Fuengirola attended the scene.
Despite the ferocity of the blaze there was no need for any people to be evacuated from the area.

four year in prison after more than 3,150 child porn images were found on his computer

The court in Sevilla has sentenced a man to four year in prison after more than 3,150 child porn images were found on his computer together with 157 videos, all of which he shared with other users of the internet.EFE news agency reports that 32 year old C.T.R. was discovered when he took his lap-top computer in for repair and the shop informed the police on finding the contents. Police say that there were images of children, some aged under 13, taking part in explicit sexual practices. The sentence rejected the defence claim to the man’s right to privacy and the claim that the police registered the computer without a judicial order.

suspects were rounded up by cops backed by riot police in Malaga, on Spain’s Costa del Sol.

Fifty-five Nigerians were arrested in armed swoops by Spanish fraudbusters on more than 60 homes and businesses. The suspects were rounded up by cops backed by riot police in Malaga, on Spain’s Costa del Sol. The gang are believed to have ripped off 1,500 victims worldwide – many of them British – for £21.6million.Individual losses average £14,000, but range from £640 to a massive £720,000. The crackdown followed the jailing of a Nigerian last Friday in Surrey after a disabled British pensioner was swindled out of his £100,000 life savings in a lottery scam. Britain’s Serious Organised Crime Agency is also currently engaged in a long-running investigation in Spain and Nigeria into lottery rackets which target Britons. Victims get letters saying they have won vast prizes in Spain’s legendary state lottery. The villains follow up with demands for cash to cover “local taxes” and “administrative charges”. Inspector Antonio Pintano, head of the National Police Fraud Squad’s lottery unit, said: “Many of those who are swindled are elderly.” Nigerian Victor Ifejika, 42, was jailed for a year last week for conning Gareth Jones, 70. Mr Jones was so convinced he had won a £1.3million jackpot that he took out bank loans to make some of the payments, Guildford Crown Court heard. Ifejika flew to Britain to complete the fraud. Mr Jones, who was paralysed in one arm after two strokes, was finally handed a silver case – full of cotton wool and paper.
A police source warned last night: “If you receive a letter or email claiming that you have won millions in a foreign lottery and it sounds too good to be true – then it is.”

British family’s £4.4 million Spanish home has been wrecked by 400 teenagers

British family’s £4.4 million Spanish home has been wrecked by 400 teenagers after their 16-year-old daughter used social networking sites to invite people from across the Costa del Sol to drink a “lot of alcohol”. After invites were posted on the Bebo and Facebook sites, rumours were spread that the Jodie Hudson’s parents did not mind the seven-bedroom house being trashed because they were getting divorced. By the end of the night, according to a friend of the privately-educated teenager, the house “looked like a war zone” with £6,000 worth of jewellery and clothes looted by some of the guests, and televisions thrown in the swimming pool. Miss Hudson organised the party through invites logged on both her Bebo and Facebook profiles. Describing it as the “party of the year” she wrote on the sites: “Theres gone be a lot of alcohol an amazing DJ.” As the party escalated, Jodie’s mother, Amanda Hudson, an estate agent who is estranged from her husband and has lived in Marbella for 10 years, called the police. Officers arrived at the house shortly after midnight. One partygoer said: “People scarpered in all directions, but the police managed to pull people over and search their bags and pockets, but it was already too late and a lot was gone. “Somebody said that we were allowed to wreck the house because the birthday girl’s parents were getting divorced and there were kids behaving like gangsters from a rap video, throwing stuff around and smashing things. There were chairs, tables, even a TV in the pool.” Following the party, Miss Hudson wrote: “There’s so much damage and clothes stolen. A lot of broken doors. people caight (SIC) having sex.” The house in the exclusive El Paraiso development has been on the market for 5.6m euros. Howeve the villa, which rents out for £4,000 per week in the summer season, was completely trashed and will now be unable to rent in the coming months.

offences were committed at Melling’s villa in Torrevieja,

4 men have pleaded guilty and been sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court for a total of 17 sexual offences on three teenaged boys from Tyneside.The court heard how Derek Marshall, 52, and his son, Graeme Marshall, 24, befriended the boys, aged between 13 and 16 years. The victims were then introduced to a 58-year-old man called Melling, from Middlesbrough, who had been living in Spain, and Paul Anthony Bures, 53, from Kent, both of whom were jailed indefinitely. The offences were committed at Melling’s villa in Torrevieja, and also at locations in the UK: Kent, London and Northumbria.Judge John Evans described the case as: “An altogether horrendous story. The psychological damage wrought upon the victims is perfectly evidential.”
The court heard how the Marshalls befriended the boys and introduced them to Melling who gained their trust by buying them gifts and taking them to football matches. The Marshalls convinced the boys’ parents they would look after them while on holiday at Melling’s Torrevieja villa. Police began investigating Melling when one of the victims’ fathers contacted them, but Melling, suspecting the authorities were on his trail, fled to Spain. He was eventually deported from Bulgaria, whilst trying to cross into Turkey, in July 2007.

In Spain it is legal to grow cannabis for personal use in his own property, even for recreational use.

A judge of the town of Ferrol declared a patient, who grows and uses cannabis to treat pain and spasticity due to spinal cord injury, not guilty, because he "did not commit a crime" against public health. In Spain it is legal to grow cannabis for personal use in his own property, even for recreational use. However, 32- year old Juan Manuel Rodríguez did not cultivate cannabis at his home, but in a nursing home of the national health service and he was denounced by the director of the centre. Meanwhile the Spanish government acknowledged the medical benefits of cannabis in some illnesses. The current national plan on drugs issued by the Health Ministry says that "the therapeutic potential of cannabis has been widely reviewed" and that "there is scientific evidence for therapeutic use in nausea and vomiting due to antineoplastic treatments, lost of appetite in AIDS and terminal cancer, and the treatment of neuropathic pain in multiple sclerosis."

Portugal's Judicial Police arrested four people for allegedly trying to smuggle the Coke into Spain

Portugal's Judicial Police said Thursday it had seized 121.8 kg of cocaine and arrested four people for allegedly trying to smuggle the drug into Spain.
The detainees, three men and one woman, "aimed to acquire and secure the transport of cocaine from Portugal to Spain with the intention of distributing it there," the police said.
"Some of those arrested had already been linked to narcotics trafficking by either Portuguese or foreign authorities," the police added. Four passenger vehicles were also seized, three of them with Spanish license plates, the police added.

Cargoes of cannabis over the Strait from Ceuta to the Costa del Sol

Details have been released of a National Police operation against a drug smuggling gang which operated between Ceuta and the Costa del Sol, and which brought large amounts of cannabis into Spain illegally. Central government offices in Ceuta said eleven arrests have taken place in Marbella, Estepona and Ceuta, and that six of them were from the Autonomous City, two from Málaga province, and the remaining three were Moroccan.It has been a joint investigation on both sides of the Strait, which brought information that the gang planned to make a drugs run to Estepona on the 5th of this month. The haul amounted to more one and a half tons of cannabis, and would, according to information from EFE, have brought the smugglers almost 2.5 million €.Also confiscated in the operation were the Zodiac boat the smugglers used for the trip across the Strait of Gibraltar, a stolen van and two other vehicles, satellite telephones, and GPS navigation equipment.

"Helldorado" - paradise that has mutated into a nightmare.

"for sale" signs are the most stark warning yet that the Spanish property bubble has finally burst. Here in Southern Spain, bitter expats talk about "Helldorado" - paradise that has mutated into a nightmare. Tumbling property prices, a glut of new properties still flooding onto the market and rising Spanish interest rates are taking their toll. Added to this, illegal building practices mean that 100,000 coastal homes are now under threat of demolition. And to make matters even worse, the pound has fallen almost 12 per cent against the euro over the last year, leaving many British residents even further out of pocket.

Nerja teacher has been arrested on charges of sexually abusing an 11 year old

32 year old Nerja teacher, named with the initials A.P. and who works at the Nueva Nerja Primary School, has been arrested at his home in Torrox, on charges of sexually abusing an 11 year old member of his family.
The married father of two was arrested in Saturday evening charged with continued abuse of the 11 year old girl. He is well known in Nerja and also works as a Civil Protection volunteer.

Santiago del Valle disposed of the infant girl's body in a sewer around 300 metres from his apartment in Huelva

Santiago del Valle, a convicted paedophile arrested in March for the murder of five-year-old Mari Luz Cortés, has told a judge that he disposed of the infant girl's body in a sewer around 300 metres from his apartment in Huelva.
Mari Luz's body was found in an estuary outside the city 54 days after her disappearance on 13 January.In his court testimony from 27 March, which was made public this week, Del Valle admitted to enticing Mari Luz into the entrance hall to his apartment block with a toy after seeing her alone on the street. He claims she fell as she climbed the stairs and hit her head."I didn't touch her," Del Valle, who was previously convicted for abusing his own daughter and another young girl, told the judge. He said he "became scared," stuffed Mari Luz into a shopping handcart and walked around 300 metres to a sewer cap. He dropped her inside.
"I didn't know if she was alive or dead," he said.The autopsy revealed that Mari Luz died from asphyxia. Del Valle's testimony differs substantially from that of his sister, who is also a suspect in the girl's murder. Rosa del Valle said that on the day of Mari Luz's disappearance, she had driven her brother to a shopping mall near marshland on the outskirts of the city. She said he took the handcart with him - something she thought odd given that 13 January was a Sunday.

Spanish police have seized more than 700 priceless artifacts

Spanish police have seized more than 700 priceless artifacts plundered from archaeological sites in South America and smuggled to Europe, they said on Tuesday.
The pieces, predating the Spanish conquest, included dozens of valuable golden objects, masks, vessels, pendants and maces, stolen from Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.
An Interior Ministry statement said police had arrested a Spanish man and his Colombian wife who had been trafficking in stolen artifacts for years, selling them in auction houses in Europe, mainly in France.
The couple had planned to stage an exhibition and auction this month in France, but were arrested after returning from Colombia.The seized artifacts will be sent for analysis to the Madrid Archaeological Museum and authorities expected them to be claimed by their countries of origin.

Julián Muñoz, are refusing to accept the prosecutor’s demand that all those charged with perversion of the course of justice

The idea of a forming a plea bargain pact with the prosecutor has, according to El País, split the ex-GIL party councillors in Marbella who face corruption and other real-estate related charges.Defence lawyers are trying to get the prosecutor’s offer of short jail terms replaced by mere financial penalities.
The prosecutor wants a deal to speed up the some 70 cases which are linked to the town, most for the granting of building licences for illegal constructions.
However some of the ex Councillor defendants, including Tomás Reñones and Alberto García Muñoz, the nephew of the ex Mayor, Julián Muñoz, are refusing to accept the prosecutor’s demand that all those charged with perversion of the course of justice linked to real estate spend between one and three years in prison, according to each case. They want only to face fines. The newspaper reports that those who have already been inside, such as Julián Muñoz and Marisa Alcalá, are more disposed to accept the prosecutor’s offer.
The next stage is a meeting tomorrow (Thursday) between the prosecutors’ office and the lawyers of the ex-councillors to see what progress can be made.

Santiago del Valle lured Mari Luz Cortés with a teddy bear

El País newspaper today prints what it says is the statement made by Santiago del Valle in court in Huelva. He’s the man who is accused of killing the Huelva five year old Mari Luz Cortés on January 13th. The newspaper says that his version of events is denied by the police and other statements, but he claims that he threw down a small teddy bear through a window at the door to his home, and called her. The five year old picked it up and entered into the hall of his building. ‘This is what happens to me with small girls’, he said. ‘I can’t help it’. He then called her upstairs and says she was scared and fell down the stairs knocking her head and ending up unconscious. Del Valle told the court that there was no blood and he panicked. He got a supermarket trolley and put her inside, covering her head with a black jacket.He said he only had to travel 300metres when he found a drain which he opened and placed the child inside. He claims he did not know whether she was alive or dead, but he heard a bang as he dropped her inside the drain. ‘I don’t understand how she appeared in the river’, he said ‘I did not put her there’.
He then says he told his wife, who did not believe him, and the couple left for Sevilla the next day after they were attacked by some local gypsies and feared more attacks. He said his sister Rosa was not involved.Meanwhile members of Santiago del Valle’s family have now left the district after a series of attacks against them and their property. ‘We’ve done nothing and have nothing to do with my brother’, complained one before they left.

Convicted paedophile Santiago del Valle has committed other crimes.

Mari Luz Cortes grandfather Juan Cortes said: "The authorities should investigate him fully because that way they may be able to discover what happened to Madeleine. We are sure he is hiding other secrets from the police." Relatives of five-year-old Mari Luz Cortes claim convicted paedophile Santiago del Valle has committed other crimes.
Mari Luz was found dead near her home in Huelva 54 days after she went missing last January. The city is 90 minutes from Praia da Luz, Portugal, where Maddie vanished a year ago. Her parents Kate, 40, and Gerry, 39, of Rothley, Leics, have already called on Portuguese police to find out where del Valle was last May. He admits dumping Mari Luz’s body and is in jail awaiting trial — but insists she died by accident. Mr Cortes added: "At least we have found our little girl and can grieve for her.

Coín’s crime wave

Coín’s Local Police made 70 arrests during the month of April, double the monthly average of 30 to 30 and the largest number in the force’s history. Just under two thirds of the arrests were made in the town itself. The rest were made in Alhaurin el Grance, Guaro, Monda and Tolox, which come under Coín’s jurisdiction. Most of the arrests involved robbery, followed by drug trafficking. Meanwhile, a spokesman for the National Police in Malaga city said firearms were taking over from knives as the weapon most used to commit crimes. He said there had been nine shootouts and more than 20 robberies at gun point since the beginning of the year.

Julian Muñoz and Marisol Yagüe would serve between six months and a year in prison for each crime they are found guilty of, without having to appear

Former GIL party councillors in Marbella who have been charged with corruption or some irregularity regarding town planning permissions in the town have been offered a deal by the Prosecutor’s Office. Under the deal, former mayors Julian Muñoz and Marisol Yagüe would serve between six months and a year in prison for each crime they are found guilty of, without having to appear in court, as well as a ten year ban on holding public office. This deal only applies to those who are charged with granting building licences in Marbella which were outside the Urban Plan, and other associated irregularities such as bribery, misuse of public funds and the illegal collection of monies, among others. If the former GIL councillors do not accept the deal they will face sentences of between six months to two years in jail prison for each charge they are found guilty of. A spokesman for the Prosecutor’s Office the measure will save a great deal of human and material resources because more than 60 outstanding cases will not have to be dealt with in court. The downside for the accused is that if they accept the deal, they will be admitting their guilt.

Mari Luz Cortés family set out on a pilgrimage around Spain

family of Mari Luz Cortés set out on a pilgrimage around Spain last week to collect signatures in a campaign to tighten the laws against pederasts. Mari Luz disappeared from her home in Huelva on January 13th when she popped out to buy sweets from a nearby kiosk. Her body appeared 55 days later in a stream and one of the family’s neighbours, Santiago del Valle, a convicted child molester, was arrested. Del Valle had been sentenced to jail two years earlier but for reasons which are currently under investigation, he was never actually put in jail. At the time of the girl’s murder he was reporting once every two weeks to a court in Sevilla. He and his wife disappeared from their home in Huelva shortly after Mari Luz disappeared. Her family had always suspected Del Valle, who is now in jail, and are now undertaking a 5,500 kilometre journey round the country to collect the signatures needed for their campaign to make sure he spends the rest of his life in prison. By the time they arrived in Malaga last week, they had collected more than 20,000 en route from Huelva via Sevilla. They will continue round the coast as far as Barcelona before heading to the northern coastal cities and then inland to Madrid, where they will present their petition to the government.