Five-year investigation
exposes scam worth more than £1m. Claire Hack
reports.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Two men have been convicted
at a UK court of using misrepresentation to induce people to sign
lengthy and expensive leasing agreements for telephone
equipment.
Christopher Boughton-Fox, of
Norwich, and Jonathan Parrish, of Reedham – both of whom worked for
Great Yarmouth-based Business Telecom – were found guilty of
conspiracy to defraud at Ipswich Crown Court on 6 April. Both
denied the charge, which was based on evidence collected by Norfolk
County Council Trading Standards during a five-year investigation
between 2003 and 2008.
The fraud was said to be
worth more than £1m (€1.14m) and was one of the largest of its kind
in the UK.
The court heard how small
businesses and schools across Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Kent were
conned out of hundreds of thousands of pounds after being persuaded
their phone systems needed replacing.
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By GlobalDataThey were led to believe they
were dealing with the business arm of British Telecom and that a
cash-back scheme would mean replacement phones were
free.
The businesses then ended up
signing expensive leasing agreements, with terms of seven years or
more, and costs running up to £30,000. A total of 51 victims gave
evidence during the trial.
Boughton-Fox and Parrish were
also accused of making verbal inducements such as promises of
annual rebates on calls of more than £1,000.
Customers said they later
found promises were not redeemable after signing lease agreements,
brokered through intermediary Shire Leasing.
Shire Leasing has said it was
unaware of any verbal arrangements between Business Telecom staff
and lease customers.
Agreements were signed for
equipment to be provided through the leasing arms of various banks
– including BNP Paribas and Bank of Scotland – from which customers
said they were unable to extricate themselves.
A source close to the case
said: “People are now being told to form a group action against all
the leasing companies. There are several people that have gone out
of business already.”
Neither BNP Paribas nor Bank
of Scotland were available for comment at time of writing. ING
declined to comment.
“People need to come together
and shout loud. Now that these two have been found guilty, there
should be a fairly strong case,” the source said.
Two other Business Telecom
staff, Daniel Cullen and Neil Debenham, have already pleaded guilty
and are due to be sentenced alongside Boughton-Fox and Parrish on
27 April.
The case came to trial twice
previously but collapsed in February last year after a number of
jurors fell ill. The case collapsed again last June after the
length of the trial, originally scheduled for between four and six
weeks, rose to 10 weeks following the late submission of
evidence.
David Collinson, head of public protection at Norfolk
County Council, said: “I am extremely pleased with the
verdict.”
