Two Hendon men were among six to be convicted of swindling people who were trying to sell their holiday homes.

After a two-month trial Gabor Nagyhazi of Park Road, Hendon; Nuala Bey-el-Araby of Hale Lane, Mill Hill; Elikham Markham of Harrier Road, Kingsbury; Sandor Nagyhazi of Kenerne Drive, Barnet; John Finder of Longford Court, Bell View Estate, Hendon; and Frank Sebestyen of Kings Drive, Wembley, were found guilty of fraud.

The men made more than £1million out of their scam which involved asking 'clients' for a fee of anything up to £320 in exchange for selling on their homes.

A jury at Southwark Crown Court heard on Thursday that more than 2,500 innocent victims were taken in, including a chief inspector, a surgeon and a nuclear physicist as well as the elderly and recently bereaved.

The men had been operating from four separate companies: Gladstone Marketing, Premier International Marketing, Eurotime and Trans-Leisure Direct, between October 1992 and July 1996.

Police made their move after more than 400 calls were received by trading standards officers from outraged clients. As the complaints began coming in, the companies involved changed their addresses and set up similar companies in their place.

The jury heard that despite the cash advances paid by the victims, none of the time-shares were sold. And refunds, promised in the 'unlikely' event that their homes would remained unsold, were not received.

Jeremy Donne prosecuting said: "There were hundreds of customers who lost money, many of them could little afford it."

Judge Mota Singh QC will sentence on July 17.

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