Court asks for detention order in food poisoning scam
David Ing reports on the prosecution of a large-scale campaign to defraud hotels with fake food poisoning claims
A Spanish court has applied for a European detention order for one of the alleged accomplices in organising a massive campaign of scams through which holidaymakers claimed damages for supposedly being victims of food poisoning. The district judge in Palma de Mallorca decided on the move after a British man failed to turn up for a hearing, the latest in a series of no-shows in court. He is one of several Britons involved in a case brought by the Mallorca Hoteliers’ Federation (FEHM).
So far, he is the only one who has been verified as being in the UK, but the court is also asking for international police assistance in determining the whereabouts of his accomplices. The FEHM’s lawyer said the group had been involved in encouraging British tourists to make the fake complaints in return for a share in the indemnities awarded by UK courts. A similar practice was carried out in various Spanish resort areas from around 2014 onwards, with hotels in the Canary Islands and the Costa Blanca among those especially hard hit.
The specific court case in Mallorca started in 2017 after a formal complaint was lodged with the Spanish National Police’s Unit of Economic and Fiscal Delinquency by one of the hotel chains involved. Mac Hotels had noted that a growing number of complaints had been lodged with UK courts, claiming that clients had suffered supposed bouts of food poisoning while staying at their properties. When the damages were awarded, these were paid out initially by British tour operators, which in turn reclaimed the fines by discounting their payments to the hoteliers.
A detective agency was hired to investigate the group, gathering evidence that included photographs, recordings, photos and documents to support their case.
According to the agency, the intermediaries were taking around 60 per cent of the money awarded to the holidaymakers, which normally worked out at between €7,000 to €8,000 per claim.
The FEHM says that in Mallorca alone, the scams cost hoteliers more than €50 million.