THOMAS Cook chiefs flew back £5.3million in takings from 20 Spanish hotels hours before the firm collapsed, it is claimed.
The cash reportedly came by private jet from Majorca to London.
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Newspaper Ultima Hora said the money represented till takings at 20 Thomas Cook establishments in the Balearics, which include Ibiza, Majorca and Minorca.
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing and it is legal to bring cash into the UK from another EU country. Around 600,000 holidaymakers, including 150,000 Brits, were stranded as the firm went bust last week.
Thomas Cook is said to have stopped settling its bills in the Balearic islands from August 20.
The travel giant reportedly told suppliers — including food and drink firms — it could not part with any cash until mid-October for “operational reasons” and paid only its employees’ salaries.
Ultima Hora said: “The bosses are believed to have returned to London with the money in a private jet.”
The Balearics have been badly hit by the collapse.
Around 25,000 tourists were due to fly to Majorca alone with the holiday firm this month.
And Thomas Cook employed around 800 staff at an office in the Majorca capital, Palma. On Friday UK staff slammed “greedy” bosses as they met trade union officials at a Manchester hotel.
Around 9,000 workers have lost their jobs and face a lengthy wait for redundancy pay.
A total of 76,000 holidaymakers have flown home in five days in Operation Matterhorn — the UK’s biggest peacetime repatriation.
