Court action for gents who ripped off Muslim pilgrims
A Leicester travel agent that fraudulently sold pilgrimage trips to Mecca has been ordered to pay over £100,000 in legal costs and compensation to its victims.
Al Shafqat Hajj Ltd illegally used stationery containing the symbols of both the Air Travel Organisers Licence (ATOL) and the International Air Travel Association in its business which specialised in selling hajj pilgrimages to the holy Muslim city.
However the company did not hold an ATOL licence at all.
The firm, based in Mere Road, Spinney Hills, was convicted of fraud in 2018 but the three men behind the company have now been ordered to make payments after a recent Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing at Leicester Crown Court.
A judge has ruled they must pay £47,700 to their victims, and more than £60,000 in legal costs.
A confiscation order was also made for a further £100,000 – earnings believed to have been acquired during the course of the firm’s fraudulent business.