Four men who defrauded a woman in her eighties out of ownership of her house were jailed for over 13 years on Friday, 15 June at Southwark Crown Court.
John Paul O’Connor, 36 (13.06.82) of Sevenoaks pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation and was sentenced to four years and nine months’ imprisonment.
Samuel Smith, 40 (12.05.78) of Old Bath Road, Charvil, Reading pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud by false representation and was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.
John Keenan, 39 (12.10.78) of Arrow Close, Luton, Bedfordshire pleaded guilty to two counts of money laundering and was sentenced to three years and eight months’ imprisonment. He was also sentenced to two years and 10 months imprisonment for a seperate incident in 2017 involving two elderly males. Both sentences to run consecutively
Roger Knight, 44 (20.08.73) of Meridian Way, Enfield pleaded guilty to money laundering concerned in an arrangement and was sentenced to 18 months, suspended for two years.
In 2008, the elderly victim, who lives in North London, was targeted by ‘rogue builders’ who stated that she needed lots of work doing to her house. The victim was unable to afford the work and John Paul O’Connor was introduced to the victim as someone who could purchase her house and complete the works, whilst allowing the victim to continue living at the premises.
O’Connor took the victim to a solicitor who did not act in her best interests and the house was subsequently sold to O’Connor for less than a third of its market value.
Once the sale was complete, the victim was told to write out four cheques, totalling £70,000. These cheques were paid into two accounts in the name of Roger Knight. Once cleared, the cash was removed from Knight’s accounts.
Samuel Smith then targeted the victim, falsely informing her that the property needed underpinning and defrauding the victim out of a further £28,500. He subsequently returned to the property and defrauded her out of another £8,500.
In 2013, the victim was further defrauded when she was informed that she could re-purchase the property.
This arrangement forced her to ask an elderly friend to help finance the purchase. She transferred £27,000 into an account held by John Keenan who took immediate steps to dissipate those funds.
Police subsequently became aware of the offences and an investigation was launched.
During the investigation it was established that John Keenan had credited his 11-year-old daughter’s account with over £100,000 cash over an 18-month period. These funds were spent on luxury goods and living expenses.
DC Rob Enderby of the Met’s Criminal Finance Team, said:
“This group repeatedly targeted the victim who lived alone and convinced her that she needed work done to her house, causing enormous distress. It will be a long time, if ever, that the victim’s faith in others is restored but I hope that the conviction and sentencing of this unscrupulous group will at least help her begin to feel safer. I am pleased with these sentences which demonstrate just how seriously the police and the courts take these kinds of offences.”
As part of his guilty plea, O’Connor has agreed to sign the house back over to the victim, therefore returning the title to her name. Confiscation proceedings will now take place.