Derbyshire man caught dealing drugs to tackle debt problems

A 24-year-old man originally from Glossop in Derbyshire has been caught attempting to deliver drugs to Dundee in a deal designed to help him tackle his debt problems.

Peter Hadley, 24, was arrested by police leaving a hotel in Perth with more than a kilo of heroin in his possession. He was caught after a tip-off informed police that Hadley was involved in supplying drugs and they spotted his car outside the Travelodge hotel whilst on another call. In addition to the drugs, which were believed to have a street value of £116,000, Hadley also had around £1,700 in cash on his person.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard how Hadley had serious debt problems, and it was this that motivated his crime. He had apparently borrowed money from an acquaintance in Liverpool, and the interest on the loan was mounting faster than he could cope with.

The crooked lender offered Hadley the chance to eradicate his debt problems by delivering packages, now known to contain heroin, to Dundee. Rather than seeking proper debt help for his problems, Hadley took this opportunity.

He had already travelled to the Scottish city on three previous occasions before he was caught, with the promise from the loan shark that his debt would be reduced by a few hundred pounds each time.

Krista Johnston, solicitor for the defence, made the case that Hadley had not previously been involved with the dealing or supplying of drugs, and argued that it was being threatened and even assaulted over his debt problems that had prompted him to do it.

Nonetheless, Hadley was sentenced to 40 months in prison for preparing to deliver the heroin.

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Posted in: caught,Dealing,Derbyshire,drugs,problems,tackle

Man caught breaking bankruptcy agreement by running business

A man from Caythorpe in Lincolnshire has been caught running a business even though it breaks the terms of his bankruptcy agreement.

Martin Coaley, 55, declared bankruptcy after his businesses, Badger Commissioning Ltd, failed in January 2002. However, he became the sole director of another company, Badger Consulting Ltd, five years later, even though he was still an undischarged bankrupt who was banned from running any business venture. He took control of the company after his mother resigned her position as director.

Mr Coaley ran the second company for two years before it went into administration with tax debt problems of around £24,000. HM Revenue and Customs investigated Badger Consulting Ltd and found that record keeping was extremely lax at the company and that there was at least £54,000 in income that was unaccounted for.

In August 2010, Mr Coaley was banned for running any kind of company for at least nine years. At a recent hearing at Lincoln Crown Court, he admitted the charges made against him. These included acting as a director whilst an undischarged bankrupt, failing to keep accurate financial records and neglecting to give all of the necessary information to the receiver.

At the hearing, recorder Christopher Goodchild said to Mr Coaley:

“You are no doubt extremely good at your job but as a businessman you are useless.”

Mr Coaley was given a two-year community order including supervision for his misconduct, as well as being ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work.

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Posted in: Agreement,Bankruptcy,Breaking,business,caught,running

Fugitive ‘war hero’ caught at last

Police have found a man who disappeared after being arrested on suspicion of fraud as he walked around the British coast claiming he was raising money for Help for Heroes.

Last month DMT reported how 34-year-old Matthew Brown was arrested in Newquay, Cornwall, in November after claiming he was walking the length of the British coastline for charity. Brown was bailed until May 5 by Devon and Cornwall police while officers investigated his claims. The date was extended to Tuesday last week but he failed to appear.Devon and Cornwall police said on Monday Brown had been located in Scotland and summonsed to appear before Bodmin magistrates on June 14. He has not yet been charged with an offence.The 34-year-old gave numerous interviews about his quest to walk the 10,500 miles around the coast of the UK and Ireland to raise funds for wounded veterans of Britain's current conflicts.He told reporters he was a war veteran helicopter pilot who had rescued 88 comrades on one of his six tours of duty in Afghanistan. He claimed to have served in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Bosnia and to have flown Lynx and Apache helicopters.The Ministry of Defence said his service was limited to 38 days with the Territorial Army.Brown had previously boasted that he had rescued 88 comrades on one of his six tours of Afghanistan and also claimed he had served in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Bosnia.He had repeatedly claimed to have served 22 years in the forces despite his age, and had claimed to have operated under heavy gunfire to save the lives of wounded men. But the Ministry of Defence confirmed that his service was limited to just 38 days with the Territorial Army.
Manchester debt firm is liquidated owing creditors over £2.2m
Wednesday 11th August 2010

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Monday 2nd August 2010

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Wednesday 20th February 2008

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Championship director caught up in fraud scandal

A director at a Championship football club has been arrested as part of a major fraud investigation.

Alan Whiteley, a director at Cardiff City, was arrested and suspended as a partner at M&A Solicitors on Thursday, the Guardian reports.

The company also suspended a second partner, Eric Evans, 65, from Abergavenny.In a statement, M&A Solicitors said Whiteley and Evans had been suspended with immediate effect.

“This action arises from a single transaction involving a client of the firm that is under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office,” the statement said.

“The firm acted diligently by referring matters to the authorities and the Serious Fraud Office’s investigation follows on from our referral.

“We are co-operating with the Serious Fraud Office’s investigation and due to the ongoing nature of that investigation we are unable to provide further information at this time.

“We wish to reassure our clients that this is an isolated incident.

“We are committed to providing our clients with the best service possible, and we are working with clients to ensure that business will continue as normal.”

On Wednesday, the SFO said it had searched seven residential properties, including five in South Wales, one in London and one in Birmingham.

One business premises in South Wales was also searched.

The operation was conducted with the assistance of South Wales Police, Gwent Police, the Metropolitan Police and West Midlands Police.

Whiteley, 47, from Bridgend, was appointed company secretary of Cardiff City in 2006. The investigation has no connection to the Championship promotion contenders.

A Cardiff City spokesman told WalesOnline.co.uk: “We are aware that a director of Cardiff City Football Club is under investigation into a matter that is totally unrelated to the club. While the investigation is ongoing it would be inappropriate to make any further comment.”

The suspensions follow an investigation by the SFO which involved more than 90 investigators and police officers from several different forces.

The SFO said five people were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud in relation to the sale of four mining sites in South Wales.

It said those arrested were three men, aged 65, 36 and 31, in South Wales, a 47-year-old man in London and a 28-year-old woman in Birmingham.

They were interviewed and released on bail pending further inquiries.

M&A Solicitors, the law firm Whiteley established in 1999, is one of Wales’ largest commercial law firms.

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Posted in: caught,Championship,director,fraud,scandal

Fraudulent rock legend caught on YouTube

The former lead singer of one of the UK’s biggest heavy metal bands has been jailed for swindling £45,000 of tax payers’ money.

Paul Andrews – aka Paul Di’Anno – formally of Iron Maiden, was sentenced to nine months in jail for conning the five-figure sum while touring around the world, sometimes playing to crowds of 10,000 people.The former front man claimed he could no longer work as a result of injuries he sustained after performing a stage dive during a live show. But the singer was rumbled after videos of him performing with his more recent bands were posted on YouTube and spotted by investigators working for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).According to the Guardian, James Newton-Price, prosecuting, told Salisbury Crown Court that Andrews claimed income support, housing benefit and council tax handouts despite touring between 2002 and 2008."His touring took him to Europe, India, Brazil, Canada, Russia, and Mexico,” he said. "There is footage on YouTube of over 50 live performances between 2004 and 2007. He admitted in an interview at one of his concerts in 2005 that he was living in Brazil for a time and that he played to crowds of 10,000 people."In his defence, Steven Ritter claimed Andrews displayed naivety when it came to money matters having received no formal education, and cared only for the welfare of his wife and child in the US and a daughter who lives in Venezuela.Sentencing, Jane Miller QC, said: "Your public persona is not relevant. Your greed has cost this country a lot of money. The claims were for a long time and for a large cost. It must be a custodial sentence."In 2002 you started claiming benefits when it was quite clear you were already working. It took many years to track you down. In 2007 you performed at 69 venues; in 2006 you performed 67 times."Iron Maiden formed in Leyton, east London, in 1975 and have since released 15 studio albums. The band won the Best British Live Act at the 2009 Brit Awards. Andrews, 52, was the first vocalist to record with the band during his three year tenure from 1978 to 1981.
Manchester debt firm is liquidated owing creditors over £2.2m
Wednesday 11th August 2010

Bankrupt football legend probed by police over loan fraud
Monday 2nd August 2010

Mortgage broker ordered to repay £1.5m of client money used to pay off debts
Wednesday 14th July 2010

Barclays lifts lid on banking write-offs
Wednesday 20th February 2008

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Posted in: caught,Fraudulent,legend,YouTube

Consumers caught out by “misleading” small print

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has said consumers should be able to expect “no unwelcome surprises” in the small print of contracts.

Some 20% of people experienced a problem with misleading contracts over the past year, accounting for 70% of the OFT’s enforcement cases.

The trade watchdog said problems arose when a term buried in the small print of a contract substantially altered the overall deal as understood by the consumer or complicated language made deals hard to understand.

An investigation by the OFT found that misleading contracts led to customers losing £3 billion over the past twelve months with telecoms and internet service providers causing the most problems. One fifth of all consumer problems are thought to be related to goods and services sold via contracts.

Mary Starks, the author of the report, said: “People should be able to concentrate on the main elements of the deal, not worry about small print traps.”

The OFT study found that only 23% of consumers read their contracts in full. The poll of 4,000 people found the over-55s experienced marginally fewer problems than the under-35s, suggesting that older consumers are more likely to scrutinise contracts they sign.

The OFT stopped short of naming any companies that may have flouted the law but said that, aside from the telecoms and internet sector, problems were found in contracts relating to mobile phones, home entertainment, home improvement, home deliveries, travel, and in-home services and repair.

The regulator also identified shortcomings in deals relating to football season tickets that did not guarantee seats, extended warranties that offer limited cover, complicated cancellation terms used by gyms and contracts with deferred charges.

Heather Clayton, a spokesperson for the OFT, said: “On the one hand, we all know that people don’t read the small print of contracts. On the other, small print is a necessary fact of life and consumer law isn’t there to protect the careless or the over-hasty.

“This report reconciles the need for small print with the real life behaviour of consumers and sets out the OFT’s expectation that consumers should be free to focus on the main elements of the deal, confident that there will be no unwelcome surprises in the small print.

“This report gives clear guidance to businesses and it will help them to assess whether their contracts need reviewing to make sure that their customers are treated properly. Transparent business practices build trust in markets, allow people to shop around to find the best deal for them, stimulating effective competition and strengthening innovation and growth.”

The OFT report said the point-size small print is written in does not deter consumers from reading the finer details of a contract but the quality of the paper it is written on does. The thinner the paper a contract is printed on, the less likely consumers are to read it in full.

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Posted in: caught,Consumers,misleading,print,small