Justice at last in Spain

A NOTORIOUS Costa conman is finally facing justice.

Toni Muldoon – who runs a string of bent businesses from his offices in Fuengirola – has been handed two years in prison.

The seasoned fraudster, 64, was also ordered to repay 500,000 euros to the victims of his lucrative nine million euro timeshare resale scam.

Police have now issued an arrest warrant for his estranged wife Kim, who failed to show up for the hearing at the Malaga court.

She was arrested with her mother at Malaga airport last year and is now understood to have fled to Turkey.

Muldoon and nine other gang members pleaded guilty to the defrauding of 300 timeshare owners looking to sell up between 2001 and 2006.

The well worn ruse – exposed by the Olive Press – saw a string of bogus companies taking 1,200 euros from each victim.

In the sting, the largely British and Irish victims were told a buyer was interested and offered a good rate by telesales staff from companies including Screenit, United Vacation Sales and Platinum Properties.

But, of course, there was no buyer and they never heard from the company again.

Six of the defendants, including Muldoon, were convicted of fraud while the remaining four got a year in prison for conspiracy.

“It is the first conviction in Spain against such timeshare scams,” explained lawyer Luis Fernando Gonzalez, who represented 159 victims.

The boss of Marbella firm Lawbird, added: “These were only a fraction of all those who were swindled. Muldoon is just horrible. He’s a natural-born conman.”

Victim Victor Jacobs, 89, of Hauxton, Cambridgeshire, said he had received a call in 2001 offering to sell his timeshare.

He said: “The caller said, ‘We’ve got a buyer lined up for you.’ They gave me his name and told us we would have to pay in advance.”

The couple sent the £926 fee but were not contacted again.

Thousands of victims are thought to have funded Muldoon’s lavish lifestyle which includes a mansion in Benalmadena and at least two yachts.

As well as running a water taxi business, he also has a ticket agency, a brothel and a car repair business.

In total, Muldoon has been linked to more than 50 companies in the UK and Spain, part of a huge international racket investigated by Interpol.

His two year sentence has been suspended and he won’t actually spend any time in prison unless convicted again.

But, this may be academic, as he is also wanted in the UK in connection with two scams which netted six million euros, after 15,000 victims paid upfront fees to websites promising debt elimination and a string of escort work.

A source from Suffolk Trading Standards told the Olive Press that they were making good progress on the case, which saw six arrests in November.

“Our immediate focus is on dealing with those individuals in the UK that are already being held and ensuring that the evidence gathered so far is examined thoroughly.

“We are fully aware of the link to various individuals in Spain and our intention is to continue enquiries with the assistance of Spanish Authorities.

“Our aim is to continue to liaise with cross border authorities and are confident that with perseverance the cross border cooperation will bear positive results that will assist our investigations.”