Fraudster ‘charmed’ victim out of £140,000
Rogue trader condemned for his cruelty after cheating elderly woman out of her savings for worthless work
A ROGUE trader has been jailed after charming an elderly woman to pay him £140,000 from her life savings for ‘worthless’ maintenance work.
Michael McCann, 25, tricked his victim, in her 70s, into handing over £20,000 in cash and signing away £123,000 in cheques over several months.
He was condemned as ‘especially cruel’ after he was jailed for 32 months at Portsmouth Crown Court for making thousands from bogus work.
Recorder Charles Langley said the fraudster ‘targeted an elderly lady and used his charm to empty her accounts’.
A CRUEL rogue trader who charmed a pensioner into paying more than £140,000 from her life savings for ‘worthless’ maintenance work has been jailed.
Michael McCann, 25, first befriended his victim, a Southsea woman in her 70s, before tricking her into handing over £20,000 in cash and signing away £123,000 in cheques over several months.
Heartless McCann used ‘blackmail’ to stop her going to the authorities – but a PCSO concerned about the work alerted Portsmouth City Council’s trading standards team.
Now he has been condemned as ‘especially cruel’ after he was jailed for 32 months at Portsmouth Crown Court for making thousands from bogus work.
Sentencing, Recorder Charles Langley said the fraudster ‘targeted an elderly lady and used his charm to empty her accounts’.
He added: ‘The work undertaken was virtually worthless and will need remedial work.
‘Mr McCann tried to use blackmail to stop the victim from taking further action, consequently the victim no longer feels safe in her own home.’
McCann, of Bowden Road, Poole in Dorset, paid back just £15,000 of the money he took between June and September in 2019.
He admitted three charges of fraud - by claiming there was damp brick in the roof, saying it would cost £143,000 to sort and presenting an invoice claiming some work cost £65,000.
Trading standards found ‘only a small amount of unnecessary work had in fact been carried out’ and the victim was ‘misled and grossly overcharged’.
Councillor Steve Pitt, the council’s deputy leader, said: ‘This was an especially cruel case of someone taking advantage of a vulnerable member of our community for their own financial gain.
‘The council's trading standards officers worked hard over many months and in partnership with the police to gather the necessary evidence, build a clear case and secure a conviction.’
McCann also admitted carrying on a business, Roofline, with the intention to defraud, being a trader engaged in reckless commercial practice, and money laundering.
Richard Lee, regulatory services manager, said: ‘We welcome the sentence delivered and are pleased that the court recognised the financial and emotional harm caused by this unscrupulous rogue trader.
‘Knowing her to be vulnerable, Mr McCann deliberately befriended his victim so she believed him to be trustworthy, before tricking her into paying him over £140,000 of her life savings.’
Officers at trading standards are investigating whether they can claw back more cash via his assets and other sanctions to ban him from rogue trading again.