Family firm quartet guilty of £500k bus pass scam

FOUR men were yesterday found guilty of siphoning more than £500,000 of taxpayers’ money for themselves in a bus pass scam.

The quartet used their family-run bus firm to claim cash from a council for 88,000 passenger journeys that didn’t take place.

Eric Wyn Jones, 77, of Bontnewydd, near Caernarfon, pictured above, was found guilty of conspiring to commit fraud by false representation and conspiracy to conceal criminal property.

His sons – Ian Wyn Jones, 53, of Penygroes; Keith Jones, 51, of Llanddaniel, Anglesey, and Kevin Wyn Jones, 54, of Bontnewydd – were found guilty of fraud by false representation by instructing others to increase the number of concessionary passes swiped; excessively swiping concessionary cards and submitting false concessionary payments scheme claim forms to Gwynedd Council intending to make a financial gain.

They have been on trial for four weeks at Caernarfon Crown Court.

During the trial, the court heard that in a 15-month period, more than £1.2 million was taken in cash by their bus company, Express Motors of Penygroes, Gwynedd, but only £690,000 was paid into the bank. The remainder was paid into personal bank accounts or used to pay bills.

Eric Wyn Jones deposited £100,000 with an online gambling site, while designer items, as well as cash, were found at the home of mechanic Ian Wyn Jones.

The designer items, from shops such as Selfridges and Harvey Nichols, were valued at about £15,000. A further £1,260 in cash was also found at the house, and the day after the search Ian Jones handed in £30,500 in cash at Caernarfon police station.

His declared income to the tax authorities for each year between 2010 and 2014 was about £8,800. He also claimed Working Tax Credit of about £3,600 and his wife claimed Child Tax Credit of £8,700, which were paid into their joint bank account.

The jury also heard Ian Jones had purchased three properties in the Penygroes area for about £70,000 each. Mortgages of about £40,000 were obtained but the balance was paid in cash.

The court heard the scam involved using lost or stolen concessionary bus passes to tot up bogus trips and then claim the cash from Gwynedd Council.

All four were told custodial sentences were inevitable, but were granted bail until a sentencing hearing due to be held before the end of October.