The 'unscrupulous' builders have pleaded guilty to their part in the fraud, while five other defendants deny money laundering offences, court told
Rogue builders defrauded an elderly man of more than £650,000 for unnecessary roofing work on his bungalow, a jury heard today.
The same group picked up £60,000 from an elderly woman for work which was never done to her house.
The jury at Caernarfon Crown Court heard “unscrupulous” builders Steven Charles Jones, 38, of Maeshyfryd Road, Llangefni, and Daniel Lee Taylor, 30, of Isgraig, Llangefni, had already pleaded guilty to their part in the fraud and will be sentenced at a later date.
Three other men - Bedwyr Fôn Roberts, 34, of Queens Avenue, Bangor; Mark Williams, 33, of Bro Rhyddallt, Llanrug; and Sean Parlour, 35, of Berwyn Street, Llangollen - have also pleaded guilty and will be dealt with later.
But prosecutor Elen Owen said three other men and two women deny the charges they face and are standing trial.
“The victims were tricked into parting with large sums of money,” said Ms Owen.
“The work had either not been done at all or the bills massively inflated.
“In order for the fraud to succeed, the cheques paid by the victims had to be cashed and that is where the prosecution say these five defendants come in.”
All five – Amanda Jane Jones, 41, of Bron y Graig, Llangefni (the partner of Steven Jones); Macauley Jordan Lewis, 20, of Newry Street, Holyhead; Christopher Pollitt, 43, of Thornley Avenue, Rhyl; David Cashman, 27, of Seiriol Road, Bangor; and Caryn Owen, 51, of Queens Avenue, Bangor - deny a total of nine money laundering offences alleged to have occurred between 2012 and 2016.
Ms Owen said the five had “laundered the ill-gotten gains of others” by putting “dodgy” cheques through their own bank accounts.
She said 84-year-old John Derek Bates, of Penrhyn Bay in Conwy, was defrauded of £656,310.84, having paid for unnecessary roofing work on his bungalow.
Meinwen Parry, of Bangor, was defrauded of £60,916.20 and was particularly vulnerable as she suffered short-term memory problems.
The jury heard she died in 2015 after a fall at home.
The other victim, John Parry, 82, of Holyhead, was defrauded of £1,000 but stopped the group taking further amounts.
Ms Owen said the fraud began to unravel in May 2014 after a Gwynedd trading standards officer received a call from bank staff concerned about Miss Parry.
She said: “On June 27, 2014, a man was seen at her door.
“He claimed he had done some work for Miss Parry and that she had not paid for scaffolding.
“He had with him an invoice book. That man was Steven Jones, the partner of defendant Amanda Jones.”
Ms Owen said one cheque for £4,000 had been found to have Amanda Jones’ fingerprints on it.
David Cashman, the jury heard, had received two cheques from Mr Bates totalling £18,000.
Evidence was uncovered revealing a pattern of money being transferred between Bedwyr Roberts and Cashman.
“When the police reviewed the bank accounts of Bedwyr Roberts, it became clear he was also transferring large sums of money to his partner Caryn Owen,” said Ms Owen.
“Money the prosecution says, and which is not disputed, had emanated from Mr Bates and Miss Parry.”
The prosecutor said defendants David Cashman and Caryn Owen “must have suspected the money involved was being passed through them for an illegal purpose”.
In police interviews, Amanda Jones claimed she thought the money was legitimate.
Macauley Lewis said his mother had advised him against putting a cheque into his own account because, in his words, she thought it “well dodgy”.
On his arrest, Christopher Pollitt had said: “I know that cheque was dodgy.”
http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/rogue-builders-tricked-elderly-victims-12782881
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