Lyne Barlow, 39, formerly of Stanley, County Durham, admitted 10 charges of fraud relating to loans, investments, and holiday sales, including stealing £500,000 from one person, and one of money laundering.

Durham Crown Court heard how Barlow left more than 1,400 people out of pocket by taking their holiday bookings – only to ultimately fail to pay for them and keep the cash.

Barlow told her clients their bookings were protected by Atol and that she was a member of Abta. Her offending spanned 2019 and 2020, according to Durham Constabulary, which said the case was one of the largest of its type ever.

After initially targeting friends and family, she set up a fake online travel business using social media to advertise and ensnare additional victims, said police.

Cancer claim

The force said Barlow gained a reputation for being able to provide cheap holidays, with news of her offers spreading via social media where people left five-star reviews.

Unbeknown to her customers, though, Barlow sold publicly available holidays at heavily discounted rates, making the shortfall up from her own money, money borrowed from friends and family, and bank loans. She then used new bookings to fund existing holidays.

Police said in many cases, customers found their holidays were shorter than requested and in some instances did not include return flights, leaving them stranded. Others found out at airports their seats hadn’t been booked, or that that holidays had been cancelled having not been paid for.

Durham Constabulary said Barlow also encouraged family and friends to “invest” their savings and pension pay-outs in her business, promising them up to six-figure returns, which never materialised.

Some of the money she gain was used to fund her own lifestyle, said the force, which included foreign holidays, designer clothes and lavish parties. Barlow also falsely claimed to have terminal cancer, telling customers she was behind with bookings due to her treatment and duping family members into taking her for fake hospital appointments.

Detective Sergeant Alan Meehan of Durham Constabulary’s economic crime unit, who led the investigation, said: "Fraud is a horrendous crime, and Barlow’s actions were appalling.

"She made a conscious and deliberate decision to do what she did. There were points at which she could have put a stop to it all, but she carried on and now she is now paying the price for her actions.

Sadly, so many people have been affected by what she did, lives have been changed forever and some will never be the same again."

Huge case

Meehan continued: "Not only did Barlow offer holidays she could not deliver, but she also took advantage of the generosity and understanding of those around her, which has resulted in such far-reaching consequences.
 
"She wanted a quality of life she could not afford, which resulted in her defrauding her family, friends, and even complete strangers.
 
"This is one of the biggest fraud cases Durham Constabulary has ever dealt with and I would like to again thank everyone who came forward for their patience and understanding while we carried out what was a thorough but lengthy investigation.”

James Lewis, Crown Prosecution Service specialist fraud prosecutor, added: "Barlow acted with greed, using false promises and deceptive lies, to convince family and friends, as well as hundreds of customers, who all trusted her, to part with their money so that she could sustain her own lavish lifestyle.

"Fraud is an insidious crime and the cost to the many victims in this case has not just been financial; it has also caused huge emotional distress and extreme disappointment to devastated customers who had to find out their holiday did not actually exist at a time when the country was in the grips of the Covid-19 pandemic.  
 
"Thanks to the thorough investigation by Durham Police and to all the victims who came forward to report her, we were able to bring Barlow to justice. We will now be taking steps to recover this money taken through proceeds of crime."