Staff Reporter
NOTORIOUS conman Toni Muldoon’s gang have had their UK appeals thrown out.
The foursome were part of a Costa del Sol-based escort and debt recovery scam, headed by Muldoon, spanning Spain, Turkey and the UK.
The gang tricked more than 17,000 people out of a total €6.6 million.
Top dog Muldoon – or ‘Timeshare Toni’ – was handed seven and a half years in prison at Ipswich Crown Court, England, last year.
Brits Mark Bell, 42, Geraldine French, 61, Colin Samuels, 63, and Bradley Rogers were handed a combined sentence of 21 years imprisonment.
The judge, Lord Justice Treacy, refused the appeals, concluding: “The sentences passed were not manifestly excessive for a case involving large-scale and persistent frauds with a number of aggravating elements.” The gang conned people into signing up to act as ‘non-sexual’ companions with the promise of earning up to €700 a day. Some 14,000 people paid between €300 and €500 to register, but never received any work.
