Caught on Camera: Rogue Traders Con Vulnerable Victims Out of £880,000

The cruel actions of two callous criminals who defrauded a vulnerable 83-year-old woman were recorded on a hidden CCTV camera.

Charlie Lee and James Cunningham took advantage of the woman’s vulnerability over several months and took most of her life savings.

Caught on camera, they posed as tradesmen, pretending to have carried out repairs on her roof and demanding she made out cheques in payment to them.

Over 5 months, the pair defrauded her of more than £30,000, leaving her struggling to get by and pay her bills.

Covert Camera

The footage, recorded on a covert camera installed by police in her hallway, shows 57-year-old Lee and 41-year-old Cunningham instructing her to write a cheque out for £18,000 for claimed roofing work.

They gave her a different name to pay the cheque out to – a money laundering tactic which was repeatedly used on other targeted fraud victims.

It was the last in a series of events – between June and October 2022 – where she was deceived and repeatedly pressured into filling out cheques to pay for supposed work.

In reality, a visual inspection of her roof revealed that, at most, some mortar was placed along her ridge tiles.

Unsafe in Own House

In a victim impact statement provided to police, the 83-year-old victim said: “I felt like I was being bullied and had no choice but to write them out the cheques. They intimidated me and would not take no for an answer, so I felt little choice but to give them what they wanted.

“They have left me feeling unsafe in my own house and financially it has hit me hard as they have emptied my bank account.

“I hope nobody else has to go through what I have and that these men do not get to treat people the way they have treated me.”

The woman, who lived in the Aspley area, died in April last year.

Eleven Householders

She was the first of 11 householders, including 5 Nottingham residents, who were visited at various times by cold callers. Each demanded money, which they were paid, for roofing repairs that were either not carried out or for work that was substandard.

This wider case, which also involved additional fraudsters, took place between 1 August 2021 and 1 July 2023, with the total value of the fraud adding up to around £880,000.

Another victim, who lost the most money, a 67-year-old Nottingham man, was deprived of £376,284. The money was his life savings which he lost after he was visited on numerous occasions by criminals between August 2021 and March 2022.

This was money he had saved up for 30 years as a pension pot – entirely derailing his retirement plan.

In a victim impact statement the man, who made numerous payments for substandard and overcharged work, said he felt he ‘had no choice’ but to continue paying the men.

Vulnerable Victims

Other vulnerable victims they conned out of money included a 97-year-old woman from Coventry who has since died (defrauded of £186,000), an 82-year-old man from Kenilworth, Warwickshire (lost £74,000) and an 80-year-man from Coventry who has since died (lost £37,000).

The exploitation followed the same pattern, with victims initially being told they needed work doing to their roofs. Extortionate amounts were then demanded from the householders for unnecessary or substandard work.

Other victims were told they needed to pay for additional work on their properties, and some were told they had to pay more because VAT hadn’t been charged.

Some were conned into paying out even more, after the fraudsters told them they would then be entitled to refunds.

Other victims were threatened that previous roofing work would be removed if further payments weren’t made.

A sophisticated scheme was in place to launder the criminal proceeds. This included offenders giving their victims different names to make cheques payable to in a bid to disguise what was happening. After the money went into these accounts it was then paid to the fraudsters.

Pleading Guilty

At Nottingham Crown Court, on Monday 15 June, Charlie Lee, formerly of Mile Tree Lane, Coventry, pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation, between 1 August 2021 and 31 May 2023.

James Cunningham, of Cawley Lane, Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation, between 1 August 2021 and 31 May 2023.

He also pleaded guilty to six money laundering offences during the conspiracy period – these offences included spending cash from illegal activity on high-value vehicles.

28-year-old Ben Lee, the son of Charlie Lee, formerly of Mile Tree Lane, Coventry, was also charged and pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit fraud by false representation, between 1 August 2021 and 1 July 2023.

He also pleaded guilty to concealing, disguising, converting, transferring or removing criminal property, between 10 February 2022 and 17 December 2022.

Other defendants pled guilty to laundering proceeds of the crime. They were Stephen O’Rourke, 56, of Meryhurst Road, Sandwell, Michelle Fox, 46, of Church Close, Lutterworth, Leicestershire and Ben Lee’s younger brother, Cole Lee, 23, of Mile Tree Lane, Coventry.

Sentencing

The offenders were sentenced to:

• Ben Lee – jailed for 4 years and 11 months
• Charlie Lee – jailed for 3 years and 10 months
• James Cunningham – given a sentence of 5 years and 10 months in prison but was told he was eligible for immediate release on licence, until the end of this period, due to time already served
• Stephen O’Rourke – 21-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, 200 hours’ unpaid work
• Michelle Fox – 8 month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, 150 hours’ unpaid work
• Cole Lee – 12-month community order, 40 hours’ unpaid work

Speaking after the sentencing Detective Constable Rich Evans, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “This group used relentless high-pressure tactics and intimidation to defraud these householders.

“Deception and dishonesty of this nature will not be tolerated and we will investigate those who prey on elderly and vulnerable people in this manner and bring them to justice.”

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