Wife to repay £1 over fraud
THE wife of former rugby star Gareth Cooper has been ordered to pay back just £1 after being involved in a £1m fraud against her husband.
THE wife of former rugby star Gareth Cooper has been ordered to pay back £1 after being involved in a £1m fraud against her husband.
Debra Leyshon, 41, fraudulently obtained mortgages and loans in her husband’s name with the help of associates Simon Thomas, 48, and Mark Lee, 44.
The defendant received a suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to 13 counts of fraud, which amounted to just over £1m.
After marrying in 2005, Leyshon took over the day-to-day running of a company set up by Mr Cooper called Cooper Freight Services and two gyms, along with business partner Thomas.
A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court previously heard that while Mr Cooper was under the impression the businesses were “thriving”, the opposite was true and Leyshon was in financial trouble.
Prosecutor Roger Griffiths said the defendants Leyshon and Thomas would take out short-term and large loans in order to keep the companies afloat, without Mr Cooper’s knowledge.
The former Wales and Lions scrum-half’s family home had also been re-mortgaged and four other properties belonging to Mr Cooper had been transferred into his and his wife’s names and also mortgaged.
Mr Griffiths said: “He knew nothing about this. He took no part in the application process at all.”
In February 2017, Mr Cooper received an email from a solicitor telling him he had been made bankrupt and should have attended court.
He was removed from bankruptcy a month later when it was accepted he had been the victim of fraud. Mr Cooper reported matters to the police in early 2017 and there was a “lengthy” police investigation.
Leyshon, of Wind Street, Laleston, Bridgend, made full admissions when she was interviewed by the police and was later sentenced to two-years imprisonment suspended for 24 months.
Thomas, of Beaconsfield, Wick, in the Vale of Glamorgan, pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud and was given a 16-month prison sentence suspended for 24 months. He was also disqualified from being a company director for eight years.
Lee, of Barton Road, Exeter, admitted one count of fraud and was given a nine-month prison sentence suspended for 24 months.
A Proceeds Of Crime Act (POCA) hearing at Cardiff Crown Court heard that Leyshon had benefited to the tune of £371,271, while Thomas benefited to the tune of £161,081.
Lee was not subject to the hearing as the prosecution did not go ahead with POCA proceedings against him.
Mr Griffiths told the court that both Leyshon and Thomas had both been made bankrupt and their assets are being dealt with by a trustee in bankruptcy.
As a result of their status, he said the Crown would only be able to recover a nominal sum due to the status of the defendants.
Judge David Wynn Morgan ordered both Leyshon and Thomas to pay a £1 nominal sum within the next 28 days.
In a statement read out at the sentencing in December 2019, Mr Cooper said: “I was deceived and manipulated by the person I trusted the most – my wife and the mother of my children.”
As a result of the frauds, Mr Cooper had to pay more than £120,000 in legal fees and had to move back in with his parents.
He added: “This has had a profound and devastating effect on both me and my family.
“I was happily married with three children, enjoying a career playing a sport I excelled in for many years.”