Conservatory fraudster is jailed after £175k scam
CROOK TOOK PAYMENT FOR ROOFING WORK HE NEVER CARRIED OUT
A MAN who set up fake conservatory companies to scam customers out of more than £175,000 has been jailed.
James Simpson Taylor, of Ivy Green Drive, Oldham, took payments for roofing work that was never carried out.
After taking deposits of between £1,000 and £2,000, the company stopped trading. Taylor then set up a new company and repeated the process four times.
The 57-year-old regularly changed his phone number and used different names to avoid customers.
He also fobbed them off by lying about his mother having died of cancer or his partner being in a coma.
He placed adverts in national newspapers, magazines and on the internet to attract customers - many of them elderly - and rented serviced and virtual offices to create the illusion of well-established trustworthy national companies. But he left a trail of unpaid bills, invoices and fake payslips.
Taylor employed salesmen and surveyors who believed they were working legitimately and many of them are still owed for the work they carried out.
The court heard Taylor also defrauded British Gas by repeatedly changing his identity and phone numbers to pose as a new tenant, leaving unpaid bills of over £14,000.
Taylor pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation, five counts of fraudulent trading and making an article for use in fraud.
He was jailed for 36 months at Minshull Street Crown Court.
Det Cons Andrew Butcher of GMP’s Fraud Investigation Team said: “Taylor’s selfish and manipulative behaviour caused misery for his customers and those he employed, who have been left with huge losses.
“Taylor also told numerous lies to customers about why their conservatory roofs had not been fitted, including that his mother had died of cancer, that his partner was in a coma and that he was unwell. He also promised some refunds, and on the few occasions he sent refund cheques to customers he then cancelled them.
“This sentence shows how robustly the police and courts deal with fraud and should send a firm message to anyone who thinks they can get away with it.”