A bank manager described today (wed) how millionai

A bank manager described today (wed) how millionaire John Palmer set up Isle of Man accounts to channel money netted in a massive Tenerife time-share swindle.

Property tycoon Palmer, 50, is believed to be the mastermind behind a pnds stlng 30 million scam that fleeced 17,000 holiday-makers on the sun-kissed island.

Multi millionaire Palmer is back at the Old Bailey, 12 years after he was sensationally cleared by a jury of smelting gold from the legendary Brinks-Mat bullion robbery.

The court has heard Brentwood was the nerve centre of the Palmer’s timeshare operation.

Island Financial Services, which handled all the timeshare owners contracts and Caldon Ltd, the company which offered finance deals to prospective buyers were both based under the guidance of his girlfriend Christina Ketley.

Giving evidence Mr John Hackett said he worked for NatWest in Douglas in 1990 when he was contacted by local accountants representing ‘Island Village Sales.

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The company is said to be one of a group of firms used by Palmer in a swindle that conned victims such as war heroes, pensioners and even a retired police inspector.

Palmer made nephew and co-defendant Andrew Palmer, 31, the beneficial owner of the company and the sole signatory.

The prosecution allege it was part of a sophisticated plan hatched by Palmer to deflect attention from his illegal activities.

And he was able to use the Isle of Man’s tax haven status to launder the proceeds of the fraud.

Mr Hackett explained the workings of the new account:

‘The beneficial owner would be the share-holder in the company.

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He told the court that the company turnover at that time was in the region of 500,000 pounds per annum.

‘As it required the written authority of Andrew Palmer, we felt it was appropriate to meet face to face,’ he said.

But when he met the 31-year-old in February 1991, John Palmer also attended the business meeting, and seemed to be take control as they discussed the Tenerife timeshare industry.

‘I would say that John Palmer took the leading role.

It was mainly John, although Andrew filled us in with some details regarding the operation.

‘Andrew Palmer was the beneficial owner because he was based in Tenerife.

It was for tax reasons with John being a UK resident.

He was based in Essex.

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The group also discussed Caldon Ltd, the loan firm that allegedly sucked unwitting customers into signing fraudulent business documents.

‘It was explained that Caldon was the finance company
used so that if anybody bought a timeshare they could get finance.

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A short while later Caldon’s banking arrangements were transferred to the branch in Douglas.

The prosecution allege that Palmer, with girlfriend Christina Ketley, 39, and nephew Andrew, ran a network of salesmen who conned holidaymakers by offering them a ‘resale deal’ on old apartments.

But the conmen pocketed their devastated victims’ money leaving them with worthless contracts that were never honoured.

But the defendants claim that dishonest senior employees carried out the hoax without their knowledge.

John Palmer, defending himself, has told the jury he was acquitted in 1988 of smelting down gold stolen in the legendary Brinks-Mat bullion robbery.

Gunmen stole pnds stlng 27 million from a Security Express depot at Heathrow Airport in 1983.

But a jury in that trial acquitted him in just two hours, and a judge awarded full costs to the wealthy businessman.

Palmer, of Battlefields, Bath, Andrew Palmer, from Meadow Cottage, Meadow Lane, Solihull, and Ketley, of Foxdown Cottage, Sandpit Lane, Brentwood, Essex, all deny two charges of conspiracy to defraud between 1989 and 1997.

The trial continues.

ends