Intimidating fraudster jailed after conning victims out of more than £500,000

Several victims of a serial fraudster have spoken of the impact his crimes after he was sentenced today (Friday 26 July).

The man’s family owned three mobile home parks – in Palma Park in Loughborough, Nevada Park in Melton and Lyndhurst Estate in Ingoldmells, Lincolnshire.

He targeted elderly and vulnerable residents at these locations between 2012 and 2019, defrauding them of more than half a million pounds. The money they were given was used to buy expensive cars and designer clothes and handbags.

His primary focus was to target those who wanted to downsize their homes. His approach was to sell his victims mobile home that he did not actually own. On some occasions, he part-exchanged the victim’s property for a mobile home but did not hand over the proceeds from the sale.

The man also bought mobile homes from victims and did not pay the money they were entitled to – even after selling the home on to another buyer.

He enlisted the help of another man, to act as a would-be buyer to help convince victims to sell.

When victims began to express their concern, he would intimidate them, or they would be offered cash as part of an ongoing repayment. However, in some cases these amounts would be insignificant when compared to the overall sum lost – sometimes just a few thousand pounds.

He would also enter their mobile homes without asking or shout through the letterbox to make them feel scared.

The man was charged with 16 counts of fraud by false representation, which he admitted when he appeared at Leicester Crown Court on 7 June. The charges related to 14 separate victims.

Today, at the same court, he was sentenced to 91 months’ imprisonment.

His associate pleaded guilty to one count of fraud by false representation on 10 June. He was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and must also complete 122 hours of unpaid work.

Read more, and the victim's statements, here: Intimidating fraudster jailed after conning victims out of more than £500,000 | Leicestershire Police (leics.police.uk)