We published an article on the 20th April in respect of the case against Furnevals’ and Madden at Bournemouth Crown Courts which was expected to last for up to six weeks. The trial took a turn last week when Madden pleaded guilty to three charges out of the fourteen charges that he was facing in the trial. The remaining charges will be dropped considering this new plea.
This is not the first time that Madden has been accused of fraudulent trading, he was given a six-month suspended sentence. This time around he has already pleaded guilty on three counts of fraudulent trading, meaning the other three in respect of fraudulent trading, six on failing to provide cancellation rights and two for money laundering being dropped by the prosecutor.
Further pleas were made by the other offenders;
Keith and Jane Furneval were charged with fraudulent trading and money laundering respectively and were dismissed from attending the hearing this week. Their plea for these charges was ‘Not Guilty’.
Claire Garland pleaded guilty to two of the counts of failing to provide cancellation rights after having been charged on six accounts, and six accounts of fraudulent trading (which she has denied). These have been deemed ‘regulatory offences’ by the court Barrister.
This case was due to last 6 weeks, which has now been reduced to a day sentencing in court, only Madden and Garland need to return tomorrow to hear their sentences. The jurors were thanked by the judges and court for having committed to the lengthy case, which they now have been given explanations as to why the hearing will not proceed in the way it was expected to.
There is a full day expected in court tomorrow, on which we will report the outcome once it has been decided by judge and jury as to the sentence to be received by Madden and Garland.
We see again that justice is being made for the timeshare owners whom have been defrauded by false exit and claims companies and hopefully so many of these cases now being heard in the public eye will help to separate the rogue companies from those who are helping timeshare owners out of their ownership.
For more information regarding this article or assistance in any other timeshare related issues please contact the TCA on 01908 881058 or email: info@TimeshareConsumerAssociation.org.uk