Ben Reus
A BRITISH mother and her daughter are accused of leading a multi-million euro hotel food-poisoning scam on the island.
Self professed ‘rich mum’ Debbie Cameron, 59, originally from London’s East End and her daughter Laura Joyce (nee Cameron) are accused of being the ‘lady bosses’, in the complex case in which tourists were persuaded to file bogus claims of food-poisoning against hotels on the island in order to con them out of millions in compensation.
Six people, ‘several of them Brits’, were arrested in raids on four homes and two businesses in Portals Nous, San Agustin and Bendinat on Tuesday.
Cameron and Joyce were arrested in the raid on a luxury property in C/Farigola Bendinat and large quantities of documents were seized at a popular sports bar in Portals Nous, run by Laura’s husband Stuart Joyce.
It is as yet unclear how the those arrested on Tuesday are linked to the arrests of two Brits in Alcudia reported by the Olive Press in July, as details have not yet being released due to the ongoing nature of the investigation.
According to police, it is estimated up to €60 million was conned out of hotels and venues, with Baleares being one of the hardest hit, Alcudia’s venues alone shelling out €4 million in claims. Other affected holiday hot-spots include the Canaries, the Costa Blanca and the Costa del Sol.
