Katie Price victim in credit card fraud

£14,000 was fraudulently taken out of glamour model Katie Price’s bank account after an impostor wearing a blond wig and sunglasses managed to convince staff at an HSBC branch that she was the star. 

Katie, 33, only found out about the fraud after three of her credit cards were declined during a shopping trip in Brighton.After complaining to her bank, she learnt that all her cards had been reported as lost or stolen the day before and £14,000 had been taken out of an account.The un-named woman had withdrawn £9,000 on one occasion and a further £2,500 in two other instances. According to the Daily Mirror, police believe that a criminal gang had a member dress up as Katie’s alter-ego Jordan in order to carry out the scam.Lancashire police are currently in possession of CCTV footage which shows a woman wearing a blonde wig and sunglasses attempting to make withdrawals.Katie told the Mirror: “It is just terrifying that this could have been allowed to happen.”

She subsequently had the missing £14,000 refunded.

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Posted in: Credit,fraud,Katie,price,victim

Accountant repays just £1 after £26k fraud

A Lincolnshire accountant has been given a suspended jail sentence for committing fraud, after being caught by HM Revenue and Customs. However, since he is now bankrupt, he has only been forced to repay £1 of the funds he swindled. 

Alan Budd, 56, of Nurses Lane, Skellingthorpe, meddled with cheques from clients adjusting the payee name to his own firm, AMB Accounting. The fraud came to light when a client of Budd’s was due £9,000 in tax rebates for overpayment, but never received the funds. At Lincoln Crown Court yesterday, prosecutor Jeremy Janes said: “A number of individuals were affected. The amounts vary from a few hundred pounds to £5,000.“For two years he was entitled to relatively hefty tax rebates of about £9,000 each through overpayment for self-assessment.“The defendant had registered his address for correspondence. He obtained these cheques and put them into his own bank account.“Mr Allen discovered that by chance. He realised he was owed some £18,000 and had it out with Budd. At that stage, Budd made a variety of excuses and offered to pay some of the money back. Gordon Aspden, defending, told the court that Budd had health issues, including a bad back and according to the Lincolnshire Echo was ‘being treated with morphine to control his pain’. Recorder, Christopher Goodchild told Budd: “Your offences of theft amount to a breach of trust, but I accept you are not a well man.” According to the Lincolnshire Echo ‘Budd had earlier used deception to purchase a £16,000 new Mini car, Budd used a different address to conceal the fact that he had a series of County Court Judgements against him’. Despite benefitting by £56,741 through his fraudulent activity, he was declared bankrupt in February so was only ordered to pay a nominal £1 after he was found to have no realisable assets. Mr Budd admitted two charges of theft, totalling £18,624, between August 2008 and February 2009, and was handed a 12-month jail sentence suspended for two years with a six-month night-time curfew.
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Ex-football Chairman embroiled in fresh fraud scandal

Former Tipton Town FC chairman, Bill Williams is being probed by police regarding three further fraud incidents.

It was revealed earlier this month that police are investigating three fresh fraud cases, after the accountant was jailed for illegally pocketing more than £276,000 from the life insurance and pension policies of a murdered father. Bill Williams, of Chester Road, West Bromwich, spent the swindled money on luxury family holidays to the USA, season tickets for Aston Villa football matches, and extravagant family parties he also invested large sums into Tipton Town FC. A further five individuals have come forward to police, claiming to be victims duped by Williams, but his involvement is yet to be confirmed.  According to the Express and Star ‘father-of-two Williams is less than a month into a five-and-a-half year prison term for taking cash owed to the daughter of murdered South Staffordshire company director Andrew Diack’.  Williams worked as an accountant for Featherstone-based Spray Tanker Services, which 29-year-old Andrew Diack co-owned. Days after Diack was stabbed to death at the Flying Dutchman, a pub in Wolverhampton in 2009, Williams set about his plan to swindle the money owed to his two-year-old daughter. The Express and Star reported at the beginning of June that ‘Williams listed himself as an executor of an insurance and pension policy he helped to set up for Mr Diack’. Williams also duped pensioners Ronald and Sheila Haynes out of their £97,000 life savings. At Wolverhampton Crown Court, Judge Amjad Nawaz described bankrupt Williams as a man who ‘preyed on the vulnerable’. ‘The Express and Star revealed earlier this month that Mr Diack was not the only victim of 59-year-old Williams. He was jailed in 1986 for a previous £100,000 fraud while manager of Great Wyrley’s Harrisons FC’. The amount of money involved in the alleged cases has not yet been revealed but an investigation is underway.
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Posted in: Chairman,embroiled,Exfootball,fraud,fresh,scandal

Solicitor jailed for £250k fraud

Carlisle based property solicitor Pauline Butler has been jailed for two years after being convicted of carrying out a £250,000 fraud.

Butler, 53, committed the offences, which included stealing a £49,000 inheritance belonging to Elizabeth Harkness - a woman with learning difficulties, as a last ditch attempt to stop her Lowther Street practice from being closed down. Over a period of nearly four and a half years, Butler moved money from her clients’ accounts to her own business account. The presiding judge, Paul Batty QC, told Butler:  “This type of case causes considerable damage to the public confidence in the legal system.”Between 1993 and 2008, Butler ran her law firm which specialised in property, wills and family law. Despite investing more than £90,000 into the business during 2007, by 2008 Butler’s law firm was unable to meet its liabilities, the News and Star reports. As a result, she began to secretly transfer money from clients’ accounts, creating fictitious bills to explain the transfer to her business account. If a client wanted to close an account, she shifted money from another client’s account to cover the shortfall. Prosecutor Dick Binstead said: “This was really a game of financial musical chairs – and the flaw in the system, of course, was that when the music stopped, there would be a day of reckoning.” Butler, who admitted a single count of fraud and a charge of false accounting, said that as a result of her failing business, she suffered two ‘mental breakdowns’.After client complaints, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) began an investigation in 2008 which revealed that Butler had stolen around £250,000 from clients.The relatives of deceased Elsie O’Neill lost around £170,000 worth of inheritance after Butler charged them for 43 bills, only three of which were genuine. Butler also illegally transferred £21,000 from Rose Blaylock’s account, who had asked Butler to help her son after a divorce and house sale. QC for Butler, Paul Greaney, told the court: “She has made no attempt at all to shift responsibility or to suggest that any other was to blame for what occurred. She was at pains to make plain that the responsibility for these crimes was hers and hers alone.“Her conduct was not motivated, as is accepted, by greed. As your honour will know, in many such cases defendants – solicitors and other professional advisors who have abused their trust – have bought expensive homes with the proceeds, and often expensive motor cars and lived extravagant lifestyles. Pauline Butler lived in a modest home.“She lived a modest lifestyle and that is because her crimes were driven not by greed but rather, albeit wrongly, by a desire to keep her business running and to keep her employees, to whom she felt considerable loyalty, in work.”Butler was struck off as a solicitor in July 2009. Her clients were reimbursed by the Solicitors’ Compensation Fund, who paid out £600,000 in compensation to her clients, although the total value of claims for money lost was around £900,000. It is now believed that all clients have been fully reimbursed.
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FSA breakthrough in the fight against boiler room fraud

A broker has been sentenced to two years in prison and disqualified from being a director for six years, following the FSA’s discovery of a boiler room fraud.

David Mason, 29, of Southend-On-Sea, Essex, who conned investors out of £269,000, pleaded guilty to thirteen counts of carrying on a regulated activity without authorisation, one count of making false or misleading statements, promises or forecasts, and three counts of money laundering.  David Mason persuaded the victims to hand over money for shares which he then used to pay unauthorised salesmen to push more shares into the company, which was never even floated. According to the London Evening Standard, Mason wrote letters to his victims under a fake name, assuring them that their money was safe. This is the first boiler room fraud case uncovered by the FSA which has resulted in a criminal conviction. Although these unscrupulous firms are breaking the law by conning would-be investors into buying shares, which are either worthless or non-existent, they usually operate outside of the UK which throws conviction out of the question. The sentencing Judge, HHJ Rivlin QC said: “I am satisfied that without your involvement this scheme could never have operated...I do believe the arrangements made by you were sophisticated...You caused distress, worry, frustration and in some cases serious disruption...You acted with blantant and I would say ruthless dishonesty which was thoroughly reprehensible.” Tracey McDermott, Director of Enforcement and Financial Crime at the FSA, said: “This prosecution must be seen as part of the development of our strategy in the fight against the major menace to the public posed by boiler rooms. “Mason was at the heart of a sophisticated boiler room scam and without his involvement the deals could not have been completed and the proceeds laundered. Like all boiler room fraudsters, Mason was dishonest and posed a very serious threat to honest investors. “This sentence sends a clear message that the court takes boiler room offences seriously and will hand down significant sentences to those involved in them. We will continue to crack down on all types of unauthorised business, such as boiler rooms, and seek the severest penalties where possible.” David Sinclair, the accountant who Mason employed to initiate the business has been forced to fully reimburse the victims. This case is unusual in that the FSA has managed to secure full compensation for all investors, as in the majority of cases investors lose all of their money.
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Ex 'Corrie' actor turned Hollywood star convicted of fraud

A Hollywood actor and former Coronation Street star who appeared in the latest Pirates of the Caribbean film has been convicted of benefit fraud.

Ian Mercer was sentenced after falsely claiming £2,300 in council tax.The 49-year-old admitted failing to notify Northumberland County Council of his change of circumstances when he appeared at Bedlington magistrates court last week.Mercer, who played Gary Mallett in Coronation Street between 1995 and 2000, has also appeared in many hit shows including Shameless, Heartbeat, A Touch of Frost, Peak Practice, Waking the Dead.He also starred in blockbuster Master and Commander alongside Russell Crowe.The actor had been living with his now-estranged wife and two daughters in a rented home in Bothal Barns in Pegswood, Northumberland, claiming council tax benefit for 12 months prior to the breakdown of his marriage.Prosecutor Anna Barker said an anonymous allegation had been made that Mercer had been working, but failed to declare it, and had not declared the £200,000 sale of a property in his home town of Oldham, Lancashire in January 2009.Mercer and his wife were both interviewed and it was established that Mrs Mercer was not to blame.According to The Daily Telegraph, Richard Graham, defending, said: "He has not just made arrangements for repayment, but has repaid the full amount to the local authority. He fully cooperated in interview and has been fully open and honest."What appears to have been the problem is that Mr Mercer's employment is very on and off. Often he's signing on and signing off for employment and housing allowance."Unfortunately Mr Mercer was separating form his wife and it wasn't entirely amicable, and there was no communication going back and forth."Mr Graham said his client thought that stopping his unemployment benefit claim meant that any other benefits he was getting would be stopped automatically.He said: "The council tax benefit is a deduction so it wasn't the case that he was actually receiving the money."It was simply a mistake on his behalf. Mr Mercer also informs me that during this period of time, he has been liaising with the council to ensure this doesn't happen again."The systems are now actually linked so this can't happen again. He's very sorry. He will be much more careful in the future."Mercer had started signing on the dole again two weeks ago.He said: "I'm in and out of work. I've been out of work since November. I consider signing on as an admission of failure so I don't immediately sign on."Sometimes I've been working abroad or work has been on and off so sometimes my national insurance contributions have not been enough to make a claim."Mr Mercer was fined £165 with a £15 victim surcharge and £100 costs.
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Posted in: actor,convicted,Corrie,fraud,Hollywood,turned

My Big Fat Gypsy Fraud: Crooks jailed for £800k scam

A family of Romanian gypsies who defrauded taxpayers out of more than £800,000 through a series of benefit scams have been jailed.

The Romany gypsy gang – who are also believed to have been involved in a child trafficking ring - committed the "sophisticated and professional" scam in a ‘flagrant and persistent’ attack’ on the benefits system.Using forged home office documents and job references to illegally obtain national insurance numbers, the fraudsters managed to claim a plethora of handouts at the taxpayers’ expense.But they were traced to the town of Tandarei, in eastern Romania, a notorious base for crime gangs.Some members were based in Britain while others flew in from Romania to collect tax credits, income support, child benefits and housing benefit.Telus Dumitru, 36, of Nottingham, admitted conspiracy to defraud. His wife Ramona, 33, and the other seven members of the gang admitted various counts of obtaining a money order by deception, fraud and theft.The court heard how Dumitru, who masterminded the fraud, returned to the UK soon after being deported in 2001. He first arrived in August 1999.Until they were caught in 2009,  Dumitru supplied his gang fake Home Office documents, passports, Romanian birth certificates and work references so they could claim benefits for six years.One reference came from British citizen Abdellatif Lemsatef, who admitted supplying phoney papers for use in the scam.Prosecutor Christopher Hehir told the court how gang member Claudia Radu would fly to Britain from Romania every few months specifically to claim benefits but was eventually stopped at Stansted airport with €13,000 and £1,800 hidden in her bag.Judge Gregory Stone said: "This was a major undermining of the UK benefits system."It was a professional fraud that occurred over a significant time frame and resulted in a very serious loss to the UK authorities."You have flown in and out of Romania to make your claims and commit your fraud. This shows a flagrant and persistent approach to offending which is an aggravating feature in your case.”The gang were jailed last week for a total of ten years at Southwark Crown Court.
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Posted in: Crooks,fraud,Gypsy,jailed

£52M pension fraud suspect charged

A man connected to one of the country’s biggest pension fund fraud investigations has been charged with defrauding nine pension funds of £52 million.

Tony Morris, 48, who has been living in a mansion in Palm Beach, Australia, was implicated in an investigation into the whereabouts of the huge cash amount from a pension trustee firm.Morris appeared before Westminster Magistrates Court last week to be charged with conspiracy to defraud, theft and aiding and abetting fraud.Nottingham-based GP Noble Trustees, a company which managed the assets of 29 pension schemes, had been bought in 2006 by an advisory firm – The Money Portal –  set up by Morris years earlier.It was suspended from trading in August 2008 after the pensions regulator and the SFO intervened after issues about 'unauthorised' investment of the funds came to light.In January last year, a High Court judge ruled there was evidence to suggest that money from the firm had been paid to Morris, despite never being charged. He claims not to have even been questioned by police. Speaking to the Daily Mail, Morris claimed that a crucial report commissioned by Independent Trustee Services, the firm appointed to replace GP Noble, and compiled by accountancy giant Pricewaterhouse-Coopers (PwC) in 2008, proved his innocence but had been suppressed.Morris said: “In that report it verifies that all bar a few thousand pounds was accounted for. That report said this is a victimless crime in respect of pensioners losing any entitlement to money. Why is the PwC report being withheld from people who can make a more informed decision about this? There is no pensions black hole. It is lunacy.“The investments were never missing, the money that was transferred to the court was transferred from lawyers, not from individuals, and it has all been accounted for.”He said all investments made by the firm had been in “appropriate, legal, recognised and authorised structures” and “made under the scrutiny and protocol” of a regulated international law firm.PwC confirmed that it had done work for ITS, but would not disclose details, claiming client confidentiality.Morris said: “It should be in the public domain because it is part of the disclosure documents of ITS. If they haven't submitted it as part of their evidence, they are withholding material information.”In an unrelated case, Morris quit his position as head of independent financial adviser The Money Portal in 2005 after being disqualified as a director for ten years.He also dismissed speculation that he left Britain as a result of alleged events within GP Noble, saying he had moved to Australia for personal reasons.He said: “All of my plans and my move were well in advance of this matter. It was not that I emigrated to Australia because there is a black hole in a pension fund - there is no black hole. I met my Australian wife and started my family well before this sorry saga ever began.”This case was originally referred to the SFO in July 2008 by The Pensions Regulator (TPR), who appointed Independent Trustee Services Limited to manage the nine affected pension schemes in place of GP Noble. TPR suspended GP Noble and two of its directors/officers, Graham Pitcher and Gary Cordell, from acting as trustees.  All three have since been prohibited from acting as trustees and GP Noble has gone into liquidation.The prosecution revolves around the alleged theft of £52 million in two tranches: £30 million was taken in August 2007 and £22 million in April 2008 from nine pension schemes managed by G.P. Noble Trustees Limited and BDC Trustees Limited.The alleged actions exposed the pensions of approximately 2,200 people to unacceptable risk.The news follows the charging of four other people in relation to this investigation.Peter Malmstrom, 43, of London, an associate of Tony Morris, was charged in November 2010 with money laundering and proceeds of crime offences.Already charged, in March 2010, and subject to a separate trial are Graham Pitcher, 49, and Gary Cordell, 42, both former trustees at GP Noble.Independent financial advisor Quentin Russell, 53, was charged in November 2009 with Fraud Act 2006  and forgery offences.Morris been remanded in custody to appear before Southwark Crown Court on April 8.
Manchester debt firm is liquidated owing creditors over £2.2m
Wednesday 11th August 2010

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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: charged,fraud,pension,suspect

Man charged with fraud over dead brother’s remains

A man has been charged with theft and fraud after the discovery of human remains at a flat in Scotland.

A 59-year-old man was charged last Thursday after the discovery of human remains in a flat late last year.

The skeletal remains of 69-year-old John Brown, who was known as Ian, were found at a flat in Denny, Falkirk, on December 19 last year.

It is understood that the charged man is Mr Brown's brother who lived with him and acted as his carer, and that the alleged offence relates to benefit claims, STV reports.
He is expected to appear in court at a later date.

Central Scotland Police said the death of the 69-year-old was not now being treated as suspicious, and confirmed they had charged a 59-year-old man.

A spokeswoman said: "The circumstances were initially believed to be suspicious.

"A man has been charged with fraud and theft as a result of the investigation, but the death is no longer being treated as suspicious."

The discovery was made by firemen who were called out to deal with a burst pipe.

She added: "A 59-year-old man was has been charged in connection with theft and fraud after the discovery of a body in a Denny flat in December.

"The body of John Brown, 69, known as Ian, was discovered on December 19.

"A report concerning the 59-year-old man has been submitted to the Procurator Fiscal and he is expected to appear in court at a later date."

According to STV, neighbours claimed they hadn't seen Mr Brown "for years", before his body was discovered.

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Posted in: brothers,charged,fraud,remains

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

Woman escapes jail in £24K fraud case

A woman who fraudulently claimed £24,000 in benefits has been spared jail, The Westmorland Gazette reports.

Jayne Aspinall, 40, was given a fair deal by the judge because of her ‘exceptional’ circumstances.

Aspinall, 40, from Little Urswick, Cumbria, must complete 150 hours’ unpaid community work for receiving regular overpayments in council tax benefit, income support and housing benefit over two years.

Appearing at Preston Crown Court, she pleaded guilty to three offences of failing to notify a change of circumstances.

Sentencing at Lancaster Crown Court, Recorder Rylands said: “This is a very significant offence but the remorse I’m told you experienced and the trauma of court proceedings convince me to take an exceptional course in this case.”

Aspinall was spared jail in order to care for her own child, plus a 16-year-old cousin whose mother had died, and a 91-year-old grandparent.

The court heard that the mother-of-three, who works part time at a fish and chip shop, began accepting overpayments in August 2007, based on  the false understanding that she was living alone, with children.

This continued until October 2009 when the Inland Revenue were tipped off that her partner Paul Simpson was living with her.

Mr Simpson, with whom Aspinall has a child, paid for a TV licence at the address and was spotted leaving the house on 23 occasions. 

Barrister Richard Archer, defending, said: “It’s not a sophisticated crime, she said she was doing it for a quiet life.”

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Posted in: escapes,fraud,Woman