'Timeshare king' guilty of fraud

Tenerife is a popular timeshare location for British tourists

Wealthy businessman John Palmer has been convicted for his part in a major timeshare fraud in Tenerife.

His ex-girlfriend Christine Ketley, 40, from Brentwood, Essex, was also convicted on two counts of conspiracy to defraud.

Palmer, 51, from Battlefields, Bath, Somerset, has been remanded and both will be sentenced on Monday.

It involved high pressure glib, untruthful salesmen who had been trained to latch on to the unwary

David Farrer QC
Prosecuting

Ketley, near to tears, has been told she will not be sentenced until July and has been allowed home to see her child while pre-sentence reports are completed.

The trial ran for more than seven months and the jury spent 21 days reaching a verdict, one of the longest periods of deliberation in the history of the Old Bailey.

But the jury has yet to reach verdicts in the case of Palmer's nephew Andrew and will continue their deliberations on Monday.

'Thoroughly dishonest'

The court heard how hundreds of holidaymakers were cheated out of vast sums in the fraud operated by John Palmer, with the help of Ketley.

Both British and European timeshare customers fell victim to lies and false promises made to them in a "slick, well-orchestrated and thoroughly dishonest sales operation," David Farrer QC, prosecuting, told the jury.

John Palmer had claimed the police had a grudge against him

He said: "It involved high pressure glib, untruthful salesmen who had been trained to latch on to the unwary - or even the wary.

"Customers were faced with complex, misleading paperwork and a confusing network of companies.

"These companies pretended to be independent of each other, but the companies each were all, in truth, controlled by one man - John Palmer."

Palmer had a "very considerable" timeshare business based in Tenerife, which was established in the mid 1980s, said Mr Farrer.

Modest incomes

"He was at the pinnacle of the organisation and knew perfectly well what was going on," he said.

Victims "were invariably couples. The majority of them lost thousands of pounds.

"They were of quite ordinary means, some with very modest incomes. Some were pensioners who like that sort of climate for their health.

"This was not an exotic fraud of finance houses or banks, but on people like any sitting in this court. It could be you or the person sitting next to you," said Mr Farrer.

"The bad news came generally when people got back to England - or Germany, Norway, France, Italy or wherever.

'Couples tricked'

"Very many people learnt to their cost that there are no free lunches. A large number of ordinary people were systematically tricked into buying timeshare apartments in Tenerife.

"They were tricked into handing over large sums of money, which many could not afford to lose."

The victims were promised that timeshares they already owned would be sold quickly at very attractive high prices, the prosecution insisted.

Mr Farrer claimed customers were also tricked into believing the timeshares they bought could be rented out easily and provide a highly attractive interest - "so they could pay off the timeshare while watching television at home".

"These were rackets involving hundreds of holidaymakers," said Mr Farrer.

John Palmer: Said he was legitimate businessman

John Palmer and Christina Ketley had denied conspiracy to defraud.

Andrew Palmer, 32, from Solihull, West Midlands, also denied taking part in the conspiracy.

John Palmer, although dyslexic, represented himself at the trial.

He told the court he was a legitimate businessman and alleged the police were determined to get him after he was acquitted of handling gold stolen from the £26m Brinks Mat bullion raid at Heathrow Airport in 1983.

Afterwards he went to Tenerife and began his timeshare business but he claimed he remained the target of police.

Tenerife resorts

"They have done anything to try and get me, and have spent millions and millions of pounds - public money - to get me."

The prosecution said the fraud revolved around his resorts in Tenerife, backed up by his UK administration centre at Brentwood, run by Ketley.

John Palmer controlled the whole of this operation.

The prosecution said there would be applications for costs, confiscation and compensation.