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Wednesday, 29 February 2012
Arrests in rogue trader operation!
POLICE have arrested four people after a gang of rogue traders conned elderly and vulnerable Hampshire residents into handing over cash for unnecessary gardening work.
Pensioners were among the people targeted by the conmen, who forced people to spend excessive amounts of money on work that was often completely unnecessary.
The four men, who are aged 24, 39, 42 and 46 and are all from the wider Romsey area, were arrested on Tuesday by officers from Southampton CID on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud.
Rogue trader doubled quote to OAP!
An 81-year-old Cheltenham woman was preyed on by a rogue trader who charged her more than double the price he originally quoted for the work.
The woman was quoted £60 to clean her patio in the Charlton Lane area, but on completion he demanded £150.
When she said she did not have the money, he told her to go to a cash point, but she refused.
She ended up giving the man £120.
She ended up giving the man £120.
Gloucestershire police is warning residents to be careful of rogue traders following this incident. The trader was white, in his 50s and between 5ft 6in and 5ft 8in tall. He was wearing glasses, a black jacket and possibly had a northern accent.
UK Fraud hits record high!
An alleged rogue trading incident perpetrated in the London offices pushed the level of fraud in the UK to an all-time high.
The total amount of fraud in 2011 was more than £3.5bn, with the second half of the year contributing £2.5bn, according to recent research by KPMG’s Fraud Barometer,(KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax, Advisory services.) which has studied fraud cases every year since 1987. Even without the trades that wiped at least £1.3bn off UBS’s books in September, the second half of 2011 would still have seen the largest amount of fraud recorded in KPMG’s survey.
The findings come the same day as Kweku Adoboli, a former trader on UBS’s London-based Delta One desk in its investment banking division, is scheduled to enter a plea to two counts of fraud and to two of false accounting.
KPMG’s report singled out a “rogue trader case” worth £1.3bn without naming the bank or individual.“2011 was an extraordinary year for fraudsters – as demonstrated by the record losses through large-scale cases of fraud which dominated the headlines. The economic uncertainty has been the double-edged sword behind these numbers,” said Hitesh Patel, a forensic partner at KPMG.
“The pressures on individuals as a result of the downturn continues to act as a catalyst for more fraud being perpetrated. These figures represent the thin edge of a much bigger wedge.”
KPMG’s findings chime with those of the government. A report published last week by the UK’s Fraud Prevention Service showed a 9 per cent increase in overall fraud in the UK during 2011, compared with the previous year. Identity fraud, which accounts for just under half of all fraud cases, had increased by 10 per cent since 2010, researchers found. The report also noted a 13 per cent rise in fraud of an account or financial policy which was legitimately obtained but later used without the owner’s permission.
While the value of fraud has increased in 2011, there have been fewer cases coming to court, according to KPMG’s research, which studies cases in court with charges above £100,000.
The UK’s Serious Fraud Office said in a statement that it was prosecuting more cases that involved increasingly more defendants. A spokesman said that the discrepancy between the SFO and KPMG’s statistics could be down to the fact that the agency’s cases take years to prepare.
Friday, 24 February 2012
Rogue Purbrook electrician who conned Hampshire residents is given an Asbo!
A rogue electrician who conned people out of cash and left one home at risk of burning down has been stopped from trading.
Peter Gold would tell his victims their electricals were beyond repair and then charge hidden call-out fees.
Gold, who has no qualifications as an electrician, advertised his services offering special deals for pensioners.
Often the items he ‘tested’ could have been easily fixed by a qualified electrician.
Often the items he ‘tested’ could have been easily fixed by a qualified electrician.
He tricked 16 people out of £475 between 2008 and 2010.
Now the 65-year-old – who also uses the name Robert Pegley – has been slapped with an indefinite Anti-Social Behaviour Order preventing him from practising as an electrician.
Ethu Crorie, prosecuting at Portsmouth Crown Court, said: ‘He was running the business for a fraudulent purpose.
‘He was not interesting in actually doing any work, but was really interested in collecting money – mainly in the form of call-out fees – for doing little or no work at all.’
In one case Gold’s failure to fix a fault could have sparked a fire.
But despite failing to fix the problem at Phillipa Arnell’s St Andrew’s Road flat in Southsea, Gold charged £90 for the call-out.
Luckily the teacher called another electrician who charged £30 for fixing the socket.
Gold admitted running a fraudulent business, money laundering, two counts of carrying out unfair commercial practices, six counts of making misleading omissions and three counts of carrying out misleading actions. As well as the ASBO he was given a three-month suspended sentence and told to pay £475 compensation and £15,000 costs.
Gold, of Bursledon Road, Purbrook, was ordered not to leave his home between 7pm and 7am for six months.
Judge Ian Pearson, sentencing, said: ‘It’s perfectly clear that you are a rogue trader.
‘You have no qualifications whatsoever and this business was dishonest from the very beginning. Any work you did was useless or defective or downright dangerous.’
Councillor Ken Thornber, Hampshire County Council leader, said: ‘This is a very positive result and we hope this case will act as a deterrent to others in the future.’
Rogue traders given cold shoulder!
Cold callers and rogue traders will be getting the cold shoulder in an area of Bradford from tomorrow.
Bradford Council is joining forces with West Yorkshire Police and Trading Standards to launch a ‘No Cold Calling’ scheme in the St Wilfred’s area of Lidget Green.
Door stickers and street signs aimed at deterring uninvited sales people will be pasted up warning “no cold calling”.
Areas to be targeted include those where doorstep criminals are known to have operated and where older people live.
Councillors, police officers and Trading Standards officers will be talking to residents about the scheme.
Bradford Council deputy leader Councillor Imran Hussain said: “Forewarned is forearmed and people should not take risks when answering their doors to anyone. Cold calling by hard salesman is very unnerving for some people, especially the elderly and those who live alone.”
Local Councillor Joanne Dodds said: “I think it sends out a warning message to the culprits and makes them think twice about cold calling on people and empowers people to say no or just ignore the unwanted callers.”
Ban on rogue trader credit!
A rogue mobility scooter trader, snared by Trading Standards more than a year ago, has now had his licence to give credit to customers revoked.
Amarjit Gill, of ABM Mobility in Long Eaton, who was 49-years-old at the time, was given a six-month suspended sentence and barred from misleading customers and using aggressive sales tactics at Nottingham County Court in December 2010.
His business associate Ranjit Dhami was also judged unfit to hold a licence. Office for Fair Trading Director David Fisher said: “We warned traders that unless they stopped using aggressive sales techniques and unfair business practices to sell mobility aids they would face enforcement, and that is what we are doing.
“We will take further action, working in partnership with local Trading Standards Services, if there is evidence of unfair trading or where fitness to hold a credit licence is called into question.”
More than 100 complaints were made against Gill leading to a Trading Standards investigation in 2010.
Judge Richard Inglis imposed an injunction on Gill, who lived at Brackenfield Drive, Giltbrook, back in December 2010 ordering him to tell customers about their right to cancel and to honour refunds. The court was told he had deceived customers and failed to tell them they had a seven day ‘cooling off’ period.
He was ordered not to mislead customers by claiming to act on behalf of a Government body or use aggressive sales tactics and must supply goods that are fit for purpose.
If he breaches the injunction he was warned he could be jailed.
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