ABTA appoints new legal chief

ABTA has moved swiftly to replace former head of legal services Riccardo Nardi, who is no longer with the association following a police probe into an alleged fraud. Simon Bunce steps up from the position of legal advisor to succeed Mr Nardi and will manage a six-strong team. Mr Bunce, a qualified solicitor who joined ABTA in 1996 from the Retail Motor Industry Federation, is also to be proposed as ABTA’s company secretary. Meanwhile, ABTA chief executive Ian Reynolds said he would be reporting to the board later this month on the investigation into alleged fraudulent claims on ABTA’s bonding system. ABTA is continuing to co-operate with the Metropolitan Police over the matter. Mr Reynolds said both the criminal investigation and a civil case were “progressing well”. He added: “While we were originally concerned to discover that a member of staff may have been involved in an alleged fraud, I am pleased to say that neither we nor those investigating this matter have found any evidence to suggest that any other member of staff might have been involved in this in any way.” ABTA has launched the civil case in a bid to recover £960,000. Report by Phil Davies