Trading standards work sees five found guilty over scams with 17,000 victims

A three-and-a-half year investigation by trading standards officers at Suffolk County Council has led to five people being found guilty of playing a part in £5.7m escort and debt frauds that affected 17,000 victims.

Mark Bell, Colin Samuels and Geraldine French were each found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to defraud following a ten-week trial at Ipswich Crown Court. Bradley Rogers and Christopher Taylor were each found guilty of one count of money laundering.

The group’s organiser, Antoni Muldoon, had pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to defraud in September 2012.

The operation encouraged people to part with cash in return for guaranteed work as non-sexual escorts and, separately, to help eliminate debts.

Some 14,000 UK victims were persuaded to register as escorts for a £250-450 fee. This was in the hope that they would earn income by accompanying clients.

Once registered, victims would be called and offered a guaranteed first date and income from it as a way of getting them to part with the fee. When the fee was paid, the date would be cancelled. No further work would be forthcoming.

There was also more than one website so some victims were persuaded to register twice.

The separate debt elimination cases involved cold calling 3,300 people and telling them that any credit agreements they had entered into prior to 2007 were unenforceable.

It was claimed that debts could be written off for an upfront fee of between £540 to more than £2,000. Victims were also promised refunds if their claims were unsuccessful.

The consumers were given template letters to send to their banks instructing them to forward financial information to the fraudsters. However, they were then left for long periods without updates.

Those who complained were met with delaying tactics and refusals to refund. Eventually, the companies disappeared.

According to Suffolk County Council, the defendants were able to evade detection by lying to the Ministry of Justice about the true nature of their businesses and connections to Muldoon and his organisation.

The authority’s investigation was supported by Suffolk Police. This included seconding a financial investigator to the case, assisting with the execution of searches, swearing out European Arrest Warrants and liaising with European law enforcement agencies.

Stuart Hughes, the senior investigation officer handling the case, said: “This verdict provides some justice for the victims of this fraud who were dealt with so disgracefully. False promises and false hopes were offered to consumers regarding the likelihood of work or ability to clear debts. None of those promises were met. For the victims, the outcome was devastating and left them in a worse financial position than they were before.

“The fraud was founded on deceit, dishonesty and greed, demonstrated by a series of lies made to consumers, banks and enforcement agencies over a long period in order to perpetuate the fraud. Through this verdict, those lies have finally been found out.”

Bell, Samuels, French, Rogers and Taylor were all remanded in custody. Sentencing is expected next month.

Detective Sergeant Allan Forbes of Suffolk Police said: “The case is one that was made difficult by the suspects operating outside of the United Kingdom, but liaison with UK and European Law Enforcement Agencies, plus the use of European Arrest Warrants allowed the inquiry to pursue justice on behalf of the numerous victims who could ill afford to lose the money they lost to this criminal enterprise.

“A financial investigation under the Proceeds of Crime Act continues with a view to a confiscation hearing for those convicted, where assets will be sought and compensation applied for.”