A British mother from Essex could face more than six years in prison for her alleged role in a £9.5 million food poisoning scam targeting hotels in Majorca. Laura Holmes Cameron, 44, is accused of running a 'profit-motivated organised gang' that convinced British tourists to falsely claim they had been ill during their stay, enabling them to sue for compensation.
Spanish detectives allege the scheme, which came to light in 2017, targeted three hotel groups on the Balearic island over two years. Holmes Cameron and her brother Marc Cameron Grinstead are said to be the ringleaders, having set up a company called Elite Project Marketing SL to facilitate the fraud.
In a six-page ruling, an investigating court in Majorca stated that the gang specialised in obtaining details of British tourists in all-inclusive hotels and persuading them to make false illness claims. The compensation obtained in the UK exceeded £176,000, but hoteliers' losses were estimated to be as high as £9.6 million.
The Majorca Hoteliers Federation has called for Holmes Cameron to be jailed for six-and-a-half years if convicted—five years for aggravated fraud and 18 months for membership of a criminal gang. Her brother faces a potential five-year sentence, while six other Britons charged in connection with the scam could receive three years and nine months each.
A trial date has not yet been set, and Spanish prosecutors have not announced the sentences they will seek. The eight suspects have been charged with fraud and membership of a criminal gang, with the alleged offences occurring in 2016 and 2017.
