Teenager who carried out fraud for travel jailed

Reece Scobie conned travel agents out of more than 70,000 pounds. Picture: HeMedia

Reece Scobie conned travel agents out of more than 70,000 pounds as he booked flights around the world and rooms in hotels used by A-list stars including Angelina Jolie.

Scobie, 19, was in the middle of a jaunt to the home of Hollywood, Los Angeles, when his scam was “rumbled” and he begged the company he conned to pay for his flight home.

Yesterday at Perth Sheriff Court, Scobie was described as a technology expert who was a borderline genius and had manipulated his expertise to carry out the fraud.

He was also compared by his own solicitor to Frank Abagnale Jnr, whose extraordinary life story was turned into Hollywood blockbuster Catch Me If You Can.

Abagnale Jnr, played by Leonardo di Caprio in the movie, posed as an airline pilot to travel the world while taunting the authorities.

Solicitor Jim Laverty, for Scobie, said: “While the life of Mr Abagnale was shown by Leo di Caprio in Catch Me If You Can, I don’t think the gauntlet thrown down by him was the same gauntlet thrown down by Mr Scobie, who was fairly easily traceable.

“He may not be at genius level in relation to certain information technologies, but he may not be a kick in the backside off it. He has been at that high level since his early school years, aged five or six.

“People may jot down their dream journeys on a blank piece of paper,but unfortunately, Mr Scobie had the wherewithal to book those in real time in the real world.”

Mr Laverty told the court that his client suffered from Asperger’s Syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and made a number of bookings he could never use.

But the court heard that Scobie booked as many as 30 hotel rooms and stayed in a large number of them, often treating himself to wine and food as well.

Among the hotels where he booked rooms and suites were the Jumeirah Essex in New York, where Angelina Jolie is rumoured to own a penthouse, and the Shangri-La in Vancouver where Keanu Reeves has stayed.

The court was told Scobie’s con started within weeks of him being taken on as a trainee travel agent by Thomson’s in the St John’s Shopping Centre in Perth.

At one point - even though he had been sacked by Thomson’s - he managed to con another company out of almost 60,000 pounds in the space of 11 days.

He booked at least five luxury holidays across the world each costing between 5,000 pounds and 10,000 pounds.

The court heard that Scobie, who spent time in Singapore, the USA and all over Britain, used so many pseudonyms that he could not remember them all.

Sheriff Lindsay Foulis said: “I don’t consider this an easy case to sentence because I am fully aware of the condition from which you suffer. However, I do consider it appropriate to deprive you of your liberty for a period.”

Reece Scobie, 19, booked business class flights to destinations around the world including Singapore and Los Angeles during a six month spree.

The teenager - who lives with his mother - also booked round the world trips taking in Dubai, Auckland, Atlanta, New York and Vancouver.

And when he was already being investigated, Scobie even managed to dupe court staff into handing him back his passport which had been confiscated as a condition of bail.

The teenager only worked for Thomson Travel for two months but continued to use the company’s passwords to book flights and hotels after leaving his job.

Scobie discovered he could still gain access to the travel firm’s online booking systems and he began to book a series of hotel rooms around the UK.

He spent more than a dozen nights at upmarket hotels around the country - including the Hilton chain and the Sofitel at Heathrow on at least five occasions.

Scobie used both his own name and a series of aliases to book the rooms but normally used his own name to check in.

While he was in the British Airways lounge at one airport, he discovered that the previous computer user -who worked for Cambridge Business Travel - had not properly logged off.

He scanned their emails and was able to gain access to the company’s booking system and used it to book flights to LA, New York, Atlanta and Abu Dhabi and Singapore.

He travelled to Singapore in January 2012 and then went to Los Angeles a fortnight later. He later told police he had used his own credit card to buy food while he was abroad.

While Scobie was in Los Angeles irregularities came to light and his return flight was cancelled, forcing him to borrow cash to pay for a flight back to Scotland.

Scobie, Craigburn House, Rait, Perthshire, admitted two charges of fraud by obtaining services, flights and accommodation while employed at Thomson Travel in Perth.

He also admitted that between July 2011 and January 2012 he booked an unspecified number of flights and hotel rooms on the company’s account using passwords.

He also admitted accessing the accounts of Cambridge Business Travel

and booking numerous flights in January last year. On 18 April this year, Scobie used fake guarantee letters and travel documents and got Perth Sheriff Court staff to hand over his passport.

Perth Sheriff Court was told that Thomson Travel had been conned out of 11,256 pounds, while Cambridge Travel were duped out of 59,878 pounds.

A lengthy investigation took place and it emerged that Scobie had stayed in hotels in Leeds, Manchester, London, Newcastle, Glasgow, and Edinburgh.

Scobie, who formerly worked for BT Broadband and Lloyds banking group on short-term agency contracts, had made some of the bookings from the public computer in Perth’s AK Bell Library.

He was arrested early in 2013 and had his passport taken by Perth Sheriff Court as a condition for getting out on bail. However, he returned to court and said he had a job in the travel industry and

would need his passport.

He was then given the passport back after producing a series of faked documents purporting to relate to his new “job.”