A family travelling on dream holiday to Florida found out crooked travel agent pocketed their cash at the airport
A fraud detective pulled the family from the check out queue to tell them they had been scammed
A DEVASTATED family about to jet off on a dream trip to Florida discovered their travel agent was a fraudster who had pocketed their cash while at the airport.
The Conway family handed over £5,250 to scammer Rebecca Waterfall for the luxury Virgin Atlantic trip.
But they were pulled from the check in queue at Manchester Airport by fraud detectives, who dealt the devastating blow that the travel agent had paid for the trip on her employer's credit card and kept the cash for herself.
Waterfall, 27, worked for Incentivise, a travel agent based in Lymm, Cheshire, between October 2015 and May last year.
But over that period, she left bosses with debts of £10,000 - and the Conways more than £5,000 out of pocket.
Waterfall admitted fraud by position at Manchester Crown Court and will be sentenced on Tuesday.
She has been told she has three days to pay the family back for the "travel agency equivalent of a Ponzi scheme".
The court heard that the Conways eventually were able to go on the dream trip - but not before they forked out thousands more pounds and re-organised everything.
The fraud detective also had to negotiate with Virgin on the Sheffield family's behalf.
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Prosecutor Phil Dobson said: “One can begin to imagine the scene when the police officer approached the family group as they were in the check-in queue at Manchester, all excited about their family holiday, suddenly asked to stand aside because there was a problem.
“They did travel, but only after considerable anxiety and paying anew from their own funds, facilitated by the officer who lobbied on their behalf with Virgin, who weren’t initially sympathetic.
"They spent the first day of the trip unravelling and remaking arrangements, and all in the knowledge they would be asked to consult with the police, on their return, to pick the threads of the police investigation.”
Waterfall sobbed in the dock as her defence barrister made a "plea for mercy" to the judge because her partner was about to undergo open heart surgery.
Judge Patrick Field QC said the fraudster had "robbed Peter to pay Paul".
He added: “One can only imagine the shock and distress of a family about to go on what was to be an enjoyable holiday, to be taken out of the queue, not just the shock, but embarrassing as well - toe-curling embarrassment, and on top of that to find oneself £5,000 or more out of pocket.”
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