A FATHER-OF-THREE who left people unable to attend family funerals abroad after conning them into paying for flights he had no intention of providing has been jailed.

Burnley Crown Court heard how Khalid Chudhry, who ran his Cheap Flight Holidays direct from a base in Blackburn, had conned 28 people out of around £29,000.

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But prosecutor Francis McEntee told the court it is thought the figure is closer to £200,000 and that 180 people had made complaints to Action Fraud.

During a trial the jury was told Chudhry had made £100,000 profit from the fraudulent business but defence barrister Afzal Anwar said the true figure would not become clear until forensic accountants went through his client's finances as part of a Proceeds of Crime hearing later this year.

He said his client had also sold between 1,200 and 1,500 'legitimate' flights to customers and he had not set out to defraud people.

Judge Ian Leeming rejected that notion and said: " You were the leader and instigator of the fraud.

"You were centrally involved from the outset.

"I regard the fraud as being of a sophisticated nature and being a sophisticated plan.

"Your fraudulent activity was conducted over a sustained period.

"There were a large number of victims.

"Many of the people duped by you suffered quite badly.

"Some were unable to attend family funerals and one woman missed her wedding day.

"It's clear massive sums were coming into your accounts from customers but part of it was washed through your account in favour of your other businesses or activities."

During the trial the jury was told Chudhry offered his customers cheap long haul flights through his online company and took payments without ever booking the flights.

When customers rang up to enquire where their tickets were, they were either told the price had gone up, or Chudhry would use other ‘delaying tactics’.

Mr McEntee told jurors that Chudhry, 48, of Tenby Close, Blackburn, had told police he acted as a ‘middle man’ and booked tickets through larger companies.

Chudhry was said to have told police he made just £20 off each flight booking, the jury heard.

But one bank account registered to Chudhry showed an annual income of £223,717 and a difference in expenditure of £58,066.

Mr McEntee said if that was the case Chudhry would have booked 2,903 flights with an average ticket price of £77.

The court heard a second account linked to the business showed an income of £42,900 and an expenditure of £17,600, giving an average ticket price of £33.98.

The fraud took place between September 2012 and November 2013 and involved customers mainly wanting to book flights to Nigeria.

The amounts allegedly ‘scammed’ ranged from £25 to £2,200.

Mr McEntee said Chudhry advertised discounted flights on his website www.cheapflightholidays.co.uk.

On it the company claimed to be ATOL protected, meaning the customer would be insured against any issues with flights or airline providers going out of business, when it was not.

The court heard customers could not book flights directly from the website and either had to send an email enquiry or telephone Cheap Flight Holidays direct.

Jurors were told the customer would then be transferred to a call centre is Pakistan, whose operators used fake names including Nick Freeman, and would negotiate a price on flights.

Mr McEntee said once a deposit had been paid customers were later telephoned and told the price had gone up or there had been a problem with the deposit which meant the flight had never been booked.

The court heard Chudhry told one of his victims, Esther Adekanmbi, he would provide her with flights to Lagos in Nigeria so she could attend her wedding.

But after paying an initial deposit Chudhry called the victim the following day and told her the £700 price quoted had risen by £910.

As she was due to marry the day after the flight Miss Adekanmbi agreed to pay, the court heard.

But when she turned up at Heathrow Airport to collect her tickets from the Cheap Flight Holidays counter she found it did not exist and was left stranded.

Chudhry was found guilty of 14 counts of fraud and one count of carrying on the business of a company for a fraudulent purpose.

He was jailed for 32 months.