Fraudster who conned pals out of £113k told to pay back
A CALLOUS fraudster has been ordered to pay back just £1 after conning his friends, colleagues and ex-partner out of £113,513 in a fake investment scheme.
Matthew Normyle, 41, invited seven people to invest in his boiler business, which he claimed would ensure them modest returns after 90 days, whilst he was living in Rochdale.
However, he repeatedly came up with excuses when he was due to pay them back, and his investors were left massively out of pocket, Manchester Crown Court heard.
Over the course of two-and-ahalf years, he took a total of £113,513.26. He did pay back one friend to the tune of £10,000 as they had fallen into financial difficulty, but that was shy of £15,000 of what they had already given him.
Normyle was jailed for two years and 10 months in January after pleading guilty to eight offences of fraud by false representation.
Now, following a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing, he has been ordered to pay back just £1.
At a short hearing, the benefit figure was recorded as £113,513, and a confiscation order was made to the sum of £1 due to Normyle’s limited available assets.
In emotional victim personal statements, each victim shared their devastation following Normyle’s breach of trust.
Anthony Rooney, who invested £25,500, said he had to work overtime to maintain his finances, that he had suffered from depression and felt ‘embarassed and stupid.’
Harry Bourne, who gave Normyle £5,000, said he had given him seemingly legitimate details and had shown him bank statements of how much money he was making, and so made him believe that if he invested the money, he would get it back.
“It turned out to be the biggest mistake of my life,” he said.
Mark Grundy, who invested £26,000, said the offence had a big impact on him as he had promised his daughter that he would help with a deposit for her – but had been unable to assist her.
He said he had been working overtime to save some money and felt down and depressed.
In a police interview, Normyle told officers that he had been in debt from numerous lenders and payday loans. “He said he was not sure how much currently, but estimated at about £60,000 and £70,000,” prosecutor Claire Thomas said. “He said he picked people who trusted him as targets, and admitted to the other victims.”
Normyle, of Lord Street, Morecambe, was said to have no previous convictions. Mitigating, Gerald
Baxter said his client expressed remorse and was ashamed of what he had done. “He accepts what he did was totally wrong and totally dishonest and totally selfish,” he said.
“He accepts the victims in this case were people who were friends, colleagues and they trusted him, and he took advantage and abused the trust they had in him. He accepts that he got himself in financial difficulty and tried to get out of it by a scheme that was completely fictitious.”
Mr Baxter added that Normyle previously had a good career in the RAF, then worked for British Gas, but lost his job and began overspending.
Sentencing, Recorder Daniel Prowse said: “All of the victims in this case were hard working people themselves, with families who worked hard, only for their money to be taken from them.
“So many victims lost so much money which demonstrated what a conniving, cold and callous fraudster you were. They trusted you, and you targeted them because they trusted you.”