Seven bus-company men deny fraud conspiracy

SEVEN men connected to a Gwynedd bus company have denied charges of conspiring to commit fraud.

The group includes the owner of Penygroes-based Express Motors, who until last weekend operated a network of services in Gwynedd, Anglesey and Conwy, and his three sons. The men appeared at Caernarfon Crown Court.

Eric Wyn Jones, 77, of Gerallt, Bontnewydd, near Caernarfon, who owns the company, denied a charge of conspiring to commit fraud by false representation. His sons – Ian, 52, of Carmel Road, Penygroes, Keith, 50, of Caerberllan, Llanddaniel, Anglesey, and Kevin, 54, of Llwyn Beuno, Bontnewydd, also denied the charge.

Three other men – Aled Wyn Davies, 41, of Rhosgadfan, near Caernarfon, Michael Munson, 51, of Tanybwlch Road, Llanllechid, near Bangor, and Rheinallt Williams, 44, of Rhydfadog Estate, Deiniolen, near Caernarfon, also deny a charge of conspiracy.

Eric Jones and his sons also denied an allegation that between June 13, 2012, and September 11, 2014, they conspired to conceal money by failing to account for all cash takings as business income, failing to pay any taxes due on the cash takings, and paying the takings into personal bank accounts without declaring this as income.

Ian Jones also denied a charge of possessing counterfeit currency, valued at £840, intending to pass it as genuine on July 30, 2014.

The seven will face trial at Caernarfon on September 3.

Adjourning, Judge Huw Rees extended the men’s bail until that date.