Travel company faces charges

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33037, 3 October 1972, Page 3

Travel company faces charges

(New Zealand Press Association)

AUCKLAND, October 2.

The trial of a 50-year-old director and his company, World Wide Travel Bonds, Ltd, on charges of theft by misappropriation and false pretences, began in the Supreme Court at Auckland today.

Brian Herbert Walter Jefford and the company denied 20 charges of theft involving a total amount of $10,955 received between April, 1971, and May, 1972, with directions that it be applied for travel.

Jefford himself denied 10 alternative charges of obtaining $4424 by falsely representing that he was able to fulfil contracts to supply air tickets.

The trial is before Mr Justice Mahon and a jury. The Crown will call 40 witnesses. Mr E. R. Winkel appears for the Crown and Mr P. T. Finnigan for the company and Jefford.

Outlining the prosecution case, Mr Winkel said that in 1970 Jefford had formed the company, with himself as principal shareholder and director.

Its purpose was to arrange charter air flights for which customers paid in advance, often in instalments over a long period.

In December the company got into financial difficulty, said Mr Winkel. Flights had been arranged to Samoa and had to be cancelled. That led

to a series of events which snowballed, with the result that the company received a number of requests for money to be refunded. Mr Winkel said that those demands exhausted the firm’s supply of ready cash, and the money paid by others for

air fares was used to repay! the earlier customers. “The Crown does not sug-i gest the accused made a personal profit. People suffered! losses, but it was not the

accused who made the profits,” Mr Winkel said. It was a case of man “robbing Peter to pay Paul.” Referring to the 10 alternative charges, Mr Winkel said they arose because at some

stage the accused must have realised that he was unable to carry out the arrangements he was making. The business should have been wound up, but Jefford con-

tinued to receive money from customers, knowing he was not able to provide the flights. A number of witnesses

called said today they paid money to World Wide Travel Bonds, Ltd, but received neither their air tickets nor a refund.