THE THREE-WEEK TRIAL AT ISLEWORTH CROWN COURT OF A

THE THREE-WEEK TRIAL AT ISLEWORTH CROWN COURT OF A SPANIARD
AND A CHILEAN ACCUSED OF AN AIR TICKET FRAUD THAT COULD HAVE RUN INTO

MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, REVEALED SERIOUS FLAWS IN THE ACCOUNTING AND

TICKET AND VOUCHER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS EMPLOYED BY THE MAJOR

CARRIERS.

A LONDON ‘BUCKET’ SHOP OWNER, WHO POLICE ‘PREFER NOT TO
NAME’, TOLD THE COURT HOW MAJOR AIRLINES WERE GETTING AROUND THE IATA

AND CAA REGULATIONS ON FARES IN ORDER TO FILL THEIR SCHEDULED.

TICKETS ISSUED BY TWA AND OTHER MAJOR AIRLINES SHOULD ONLY GO
THROUGH IATA APPOINTED AGENTS WHO HAVE THE PROPER STAMPS TO VALIDATE

THEM, SAID MR NICHOLAS COLEMAN, PROSECUTING.

BUT THE BUCKET-SHOP OWNER TOLD THE COURT, BLANK BUT VALIDATED

TICKETS WERE PASSED ON TO ORDINARY AGENTS LIKE HIMSELF AT VARIOUS

DISCOUNTS AND WITH THE FULL KNOWLEDGE AND CONNIVANCE OF THE
AIRLINES.

THIS WAY SCHEDULED FLIGHTS, WHICH WOULD OTHERWISE FLY HALF

EMPTY, COULD BE FILLED.

THE TWO DEFENDANTS, CHILEAN EMILIO RUSTOM, 48, AND EMILIO
GARCIA, 44, BOTH WITH ADDRESSES IN MADRID, WERE ARRESTED AT HEATHROW
AIRPORT ON FEBRUARY 14 WHEN THEY WERE FOUND TO HAVE RUBBER VALIDATOR
STAMPS, INK, 500 BLANK MCO’S – MISCELLANEOUS CHARGE ORDERS – AND A

‘TICKET SHOPPING LIST’ WHICH ADDED UP TO A MASSIVE FRAUD.

‘THESE ITEMS WERE NOTHING SHORT OF A FORGER’S KIT CONSISTENT
WITH THE ACTIVITIES OF A MOBILE FLYING TICKET AGENCY, OPERATING
ILLEGALLY AND FOR GREAT REWARD’, SAID COUNSEL.

THE TWO WERE FOUND GUILTY BY A JURY OF CONSPIRING TOGETHER

AND WITH OTHERS TO DEFRAUD THE AMERICAN TRANS WORLD AIRLINES BY USE

OF FRAUDULENT TICKETS AND MCO’S.

‘THIS WAS A DETERMINED EFFORT BY THESE TWO TO DEFRAUD TWA BY
USING FRAUDULENTLY OBTAINED TICKETS AND VALIDATING THEM AND BY USING
MCO’S – CREDIT VOUCHERS ISSUED BY THE AIRLINE FOR ADDITIONAL TICKETS,

CAR HIRE OR EXCESS BAGGAGE CHARGES – WITH A FACE VALUE OF 175,000

DOLLARS BUT A POTENTIAL VALUE OF 5 MILLION DOLLARS’, SAID MR COLEMAN.

THE MCO’S WOULD HAVE A VALUE OF 350 DOLLARS IF ISSUED

INDIVIDUALLY – BUT COULD BE WORTH AS MUCH AS 1 MILLION DOLLARS IF

ISSUED FOR A GROUP, SAID COUNSEL.

‘IF YOU MAKE EACH ONE IN THIS CASE WORTH 10,000 DOLLARS IT IS
PERFECTLY REALISTIC TO SUGGEST THAT THE VALUE OF THIS FRAUD IS 5

MILLION DOLLARS,’ HE ADDED.

‘IN FACT IT’S INCALCULABLE’.

WHEN TWA REALISED EARLY THIS YEAR THAT A LARGE NUMBER OF
TICKETS, MINUS THE ACCOUNTING SECTIONS, WERE APPEARING ON THE MARKET,

INQUIRIES WERE STARTED.

THE INVESTIGATION LED TO THE AMECO TRAVEL AGENT IN SAUDI
ARABIA WHERE, UNTIL JULY LAST YEAR, GARCIA RAN A BUCKET SHOP ON
TICKETS OBTAINED FROM AMECO.

AMECO TRAVEL’S RECORDS WERE SUCH THAT TICKETS SURFACING IN
LONDON AND BEARING THEIR STAMP, COULD NOT BE TRACED TO THAT AGENCY.

NEITHER TWA NOR THEIR PRINTERS COULD IMMEDIATELY IDENTIFY THEM.

TWO PASSENGERS LEAVING LONDON ON SUCH TICKETS WERE THE
UNWITTING TRIGGER OF THE INVESTIGATION AFTER TWA ISSUED A TICKET

ALERT.

RUSTOM CLAIMED HE GOT THE TICKETS AND MCO’S FROM GARCIA WHO

IN TURN CLAIMED TO HAVE GOT THEM FROM A THIRD PARTY WHO BELIEVED HE

WAS PAYING THE AIRLINES.

JAILING THE TWO MEN FOR THREE YEARS, JUDGE HENRY PERCY TOLD

THEM THEY HAD ABUSED THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRAVEL BUSINESS AND ‘THE

SYSTEM OF TICKETS BEING DISPERSED AT LARGE DISCOUNT IN BREACH OF
IATA RULES.

‘

HE ADDED: ‘PERSONS WHO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS SYSTEM WHICH

MAY WELL BE WELL-KNOWN IN THE BUSINESS AFFECTING AIRLINES WORLDWIDE,

MUST BE DETERRED FROM STOOPING AS LOW AS YOU DID’.

THE JUDGE WENT ON TO COMMEND DETECTIVE CONSTABLE ALASTAIR

DICKER ON THE INVESTIGATION.

ENDS