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(11 February 2005)
Riccardo Nardi - the disgraced ABTA legal chief - has been remanded in custody after admitting swindling the association out of almost £1 million.
Judge Derek Inman said it was "inevitable" Nardi would receive a custodial sentence when he reappears at Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court on March 4.
Father-of-three Nardi pleaded guilty to 24 counts of procuring the execution of a valuable security by deception worth a total of £945,184.
Nardi's barrister Charles Ward-Jackson said his client knew he was facing a prison sentence. "Mr Nardi indicated a guilty plea some weeks ago and for that he deserves maximum credit. But he recognises that he is bound to receive a custodial sentence of some length. He wishes to start that today."
The court heard over a eight-year period between January 17, 1995 and December 11, 2002 Nardi systematically fleeced the association by transferring sums of money to false companies created by himself.
The amounts transferred to bank accounts controlled by Nardi ranged from £4,800 to £176,220.
His wife Samantha pleaded not guilty to eight counts of assisting another to retain the benefit of criminal conduct worth a total of £264,630.
She will also reappear at court on March 4.
