Holiday fraudsters netted £6million from bogus budget sites.

Holiday fraudsters netted £6million from bogus budget sites.A gang of fraudulent travel agents who scammed more than 20,000 sun seekers out of their holidays have been jailed for up to seven years each. fraudsters advertising budget breaks on teletext and the internet. Sixty-four-year-old Christakis Philippou was the ring leader. His mistress Evangelia Liogka oversaw the agencies and call centres, bankrupt accountant Timothy Entwistle masterminded the gang’s finances, while Peter Kemp managed the day to day running of their 26 front firms. Together, prosecutors say they made the perfect team. The scam was simple - set up bogus budget holiday...

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six Somalis charged with taking a French luxury yacht’s crew hostage

Paris court has charged six Somalis with taking a French luxury yacht’s crew hostage off Africa this month, officials say.The six were flown to Paris after being detained on Friday by French commandos in a helicopter raid, soon after the 30 hostages were released.The hostages - 22 French citizens, six Filipinos, a Cameroonian and a Ukrainian - were seized a week earlier.No passengers were aboard the Ponant at the time of the abduction. A senior legal source said Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed had given his consent for the suspects to be taken out of the count...

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Douglas Fleming was the subject of a two-year undercover police operation, during which he was trailed to the West Indies.

Douglas Fleming was the subject of a two-year undercover police operation, during which he was trailed to the West Indies.Yesterday, a jury at the High Court in Glasgow found the case against him not proven. It is the second time the Crown has failed to secure a conviction against Mr Fleming, 43, for alleged involvement with a global cocaine-smuggling operation. On the first occasion, in September 2004, the case against him collapsed after it emerged that police officers involved in the trial were watching the proceedings from a remote viewing room, which the defence counsel argued could be prejudicial to the case.It had been alleged he was involved in the attempted transfer of as much as 200 kilos of cocaine from Colombia through the Belgian port of Antwerp.The court heard Mr Fleming, from...

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Katelyn Triolo,Sue E. Farrell,Adam Lang are scheduled to be arraigned Friday in First District Court, Hempstead.

Canonico, 23, of 2051 Paddock Road, Seaford, told them he arranged to meet two women - identified by police as Katelyn Triolo, 20, of 1081 Carukin Street, Franklin Square, and Sue E. Farrell, 25, of 243 Roslyn Road, Mineola - at the Gulf gas station at 2201 New Hyde Park Road.The meeting, police said Canonico later told them, was to sell the women heroin.Police said Canonico met the women—and they got into his car. It was then, police said, that a man, identified as Adam Lang, 27, of 22 Eldridge Place, Glen Cove, approached the vehicle, produced a handgun, pointed it at Canonico and the trio stole his cell phone and wallet, as well as $340 from him.But as the trio fled from the scene, Canonico decided to call 911—to report the robbery.The subsequent investigation led to the arrest of all four:...

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Scott Rush was arrested at the island’s international airport with heroin strapped to his body face the death penalty.

Scott Rush was arrested at the island’s international airport with heroin strapped to his body faces the death penalty. The death sentence for Rush is seen here as particularly harsh, given that three other couriers -- known as drug mules -- arrested with him on Apr. 17, 2005, were sentenced to 20 years and to life in prison. Originally awarded a life sentence, Rush’s appeal only resulted in his sentence being increased to death. "It’s anyone’s guess (as to) why Scott’s penalty was upgraded to death when anyone looking at the case could see that it’s pretty obvious that he was just a mule," says Martin Hodgson from the prisoner advocacy group,...

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Police have seized a fleet of luxury limos

Sydney police have seized a fleet of luxury limos including a stretch Hummer, a house, and a Harley Davidson as part of an ongoing investigation into a major cocaine smuggling syndicate.As well as the stretch Hummer the hire cars include two stretch Chrysler limos, another two Chryslers, a Range Rover and a Corvette.They've also seized a house at Ryde.Police say in the last 12 months they've arrested 14 people and seized about 20 million in cash, five million in assets, large quantities of high-grade cocaine and guns including gold plated 357 magnum.Two men were arrested yesterday over the drug ring police say imported hundreds of kilos of cocaine from Los Angeles, and they say there's more to co...

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Mark Cadogan . bought a high-performance BMW M3 for £50,000, a luxury Aston Martin for £130,000 and two Audi convertibles for more than £100,000

Mark Cadogan, described as the ringleader of a major Newcastle cannabis distribution network, was jailed for 10 years at Newcastle Crown Court.admitted charges of conspiracy to supply the Class C drug and money laundering.Jailing him Judge Beatrice Bolton said: "You have been described as a Mr Big - a big time dealer of cannabis."You made a considerable amount of money out of it and employed others to do your dirty work, while living a lavish lifestyle as a result."The court was told Cadogan and his partner Melanie McElderry, 29, spent around £350,000 in cash during the three years of their conspiracy.Between 2003 and 2007 they bought a high-performance...

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Guy Philippe again denied any involvement in drug trafficking, adding, "I will not allow those who are plotting to eliminate me to humiliate me."

Guy Philippe, who led an armed revolt in 2004 against then President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, told a radio talk show he was peacefully going about his business in the small seaside town of Pestel."They came here to terrorize the population. They said they were looking for me, but I am right here in Pestel now," Philippe, a former district police chief, ex-army officer and failed presidential candidate, told Signal FM radio by cellphone."I am here at home and I am staying here," he said, also announcing he planned to run for a seat in the Haitian Senate.Dozens of U.S. anti-narcotics agents and federal police, backed by Haitian counter-narcotics police, descended on Pestel in darkness early on Tuesday, hunting Philippe, according to local officials and witnesses. The force searched for Philippe...

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John Faba Jr a serial killer who was just getting started in his career

John Faba Jr., 30, is currently serving a 40-year sentence for the 2000 murder of high school student Angela Durling. In 2003, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the teen's death.Last week, Faba Jr. was charged in the slaying of his former girlfriend, 25-year-old Alicia Eakins. Eakins had been missing for eight years before her body was found in the Ocala National Forest in Southern Putnam County, where Faba Jr. led detectives. According to the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office, interviews with a critical witness implicated the convicted killer in his father’s death.Ralph Faba Sr. died in October 1999. Deputies found him hanging in the woods. At the time, the death was ruled a suicide. The younger Faba told deputies at that time that he arrived at his home, in the 700 block of Stokes...

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