Britons arrested in Majorca in Croydon court this week

Nearly a year after 63-year-old James Davis and his son Michael were arrested at their Calvia home for their alleged involvement in an estimated £42 million fraud scam in the United Kingdom, the case comes to court in Croydon tomorrow (Monday.) The two Britons were arrested at their Cala Viñas home on February 18 last year in a joint operation involving Majorcan and British police after a Crawley judge issued an international arrest warrant. Interpol in Britain issued a search and arrest order for the two men in August 1999 and information supplied by Interpol to the chief of Palma police, between October 1995 and January 1999, alleged that some £18 million had been exchanged into foreign currencies, mainly Dutch Florins and Spanish Pesetas. According to the police the money came from drug dealing and illegal gambling. The son, Michael Joseph, was, according to the police, involved with a syndicate which allegedly sold alcohol and tobacco purchased on the continent and sold in the UK without paying the duty. The police estimate that during the period between January 1996 and February 1999, the gang avoided paying some £24 million in import taxes and duty.