B Avoids Jail For Role in Small Business Fraud
Fifteen defendants were charged in Operation Tango which came before the Preston Crown Court. Ben Jones, Partner, was instructed by B.
Over a period of eighteen months frauds were perpetrated on small businesses. Typically the fraud involved small businesses being contacted by a person claiming to be an official from the High Court. They demanded money for unpaid internet advertising debts that did not exist. Most complainants, threatened with immediate repossession, simply paid the debt. This subsequently had a detrimental effect on their business, in some cases a dramatic effect as their businesses went under. Over £100,000 was obtained in this way.
The fraudulently obtained monies were then laundered through personal and business accounts.
Following a guilty plea to laundering offences only, B was sentenced to a community penalty, despite the severity of the charges and the fact many of his co-accused received lengthy custodial sentences.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-36726224
Case represented by Ben Jones, Opus Law.