Fraudster on run found in bookmakers
A £1 MILLION conman who went on the run during his trial has been jailed after he was tracked down at a bookies.
Fraudster Michael Phelan was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison in his absence after he fled before the verdict was returned at Birmingham Crown Court in October.
He attended the first day of proceedings but then claimed to be unwell – but, in fact, he had fled. But Phelan, 61, from Stourbridge, was traced to a betting shop in Bournemouth and arrested by Dorset Police on December 13.
He was handed an extra six months in jail for the Bail Act offence, bringing his total sentence to eight years.
Phelan made a fortune by swindling investors who spent up to £80,000 on the rights to distribute a series of four books, including one entitled The Strangest Pubs in Britain.
Often the books never appeared and neither did profits. Some of his victims went bust and others lost their homes. He kept the scam going for a decade and made around £1 million but never paid income tax or national insurance.
One victim told the court that he loaned Phelan £90,000 when he was based in the North-West.
But Phelan did a “moonlit flit” to the West Midlands and began recruiting more agents to his scheme around Birmingham.
He avoided detection by using the name Mike Jones and repeatedly changed addresses, moving between Blackpool, Stourbridge and Brierley Hill.
He was finally nailed following an investigation by the National Trading Standards’ Central England Scambuster Team. Phelan was convicted of 33 offences of fraud and theft for running a business franchise scam between 1997 and 2010.
The sentence was welcomed by National Trading Standards chairman Lord Toby Harris, who said: “He operated a major fraudulent scheme that left his victims out of pocket and, in many cases, bankrupt or homeless.
“Mr Phelan then attempted to evade the consequences of his actions by absconding from the court during his trial.”