YOU can help bust rogue trader gangs
Local hero shows value of vigilance over targeting of elderly
Customer overheard gang in the bank and called police
IT’S a crying shame there are so many rogue traders that I can regularly run a “Cowboy of the Week”.
We can all help fight these bottom feeders – all we have to do is keep an eye out for people who might be targeted by them.
If you see a suspicious builder’s van outside the home of a vulnerable neighbour, don’t be afraid to ask questions. This sort of well-intentioned interference is the last thing that cowboys want, and just before Christmas it helped nail an eightstrong gang.
The investigation began after an 89-year-old man was driven three times in the gang’s van to banks in Darlington to transfer a total of £17,000. A concerned member of the public who was in the bank on the final occasion overheard the transaction and called the police.
The case was passed to Operation
Gauntlet, a multi-agency safeguarding team hosted at North Yorkshire County Council Trading Standards.
A surveyor examined the man’s roof for trading standards and valued the work at just £600, including £400 for scaffold hire, calling it “unnecessary, incomplete and inadequate”.
The investigation identified more victims – a man aged 75 who paid £18,500 for roofing work and a 73-year-old who was hit for £10,700 and has since died, and a 77-year-old man who lost £9,500.
Two people initially arrested for money laundering refused to name accomplices, leading to a prolonged and ultimately successful fraud investigation.
His Honour Judge Morris said in sentencing the gang at Teesside
Crown Court: “I’ve seen the victims and the impact it has had upon them.
“They are people in the late evenings of their lives, who are easily confused. It is quite clear there was deliberate targeting of them because they were very vulnerable, frail, fearful, forgetful and over-trusting.”
George Flannigan, 25, of Milnathort, Scotland, was jailed for three years 11 months; Shaun Doyle, 33, of Darlington, got three years five months; and Andrew Hardy, 32, of no fixed address, got three years three months.
William Stewart, 23, of Holmelea Travellers’ Site, York, got two years nine months, as did Mark Genery, 39, of Stockton, while Graham Thom, 27, of Turriff, Scotland, got one year 11 months.
Paul Masterton, 67, of Newcastle,
admitted forgery and his son James admitted money laundering. They were each given 250 hours unpaid work.
North Yorkshire councillor Andrew Lee said after the case: “This has been the most complex investigation we have ever undertaken, but we were determined to get justice for these victims.”
Proceeds of Crime action against the culprits is underway.
It’s worth pointing out that a 91-year-old man would also have fallen victim, but worried neighbours phoned the police.
So one of my wishes for 2019 is for more busybodies like those nosy neighbours and the concerned customer in the bank to speak up if they are suspicious.
A couple of questions from local heroes like these is all it takes to prevent someone from losing their savings, and to set in motion the wheels of justice.