Sutton Council has advised small businesses in the borough to be vigilant if approached about online grant advertising after a Buckinghamshire man received a suspended sentence for an elaborate grants scam that targeted businesses across the UK.
Sutton Council has advised small businesses in the borough to be vigilant if approached about online grant advertising after a Buckinghamshire man received a suspended sentence for an elaborate grants scam that targeted businesses across the UK.
Ashton Kevin Saunders, 27, from Chesham, Buckinghamshire, has received an 18-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, after deceiving small businesses into paying hundreds and in some cases thousands of pounds for online advertising that was never carried out or of no commercial value.
He was also given 300 hours of unpaid work, ordered to pay £13,255 of compensation to victims, and has to pay costs of £8,776.
At an earlier hearing at York Crown Court in June 2015 Mr Saunders pleaded guilty to 11 counts of fraud contrary to section 1 of the Fraud Act 2006, and a single count of common law conspiracy to defraud.
His conviction concludes a long, detailed, online fraud investigation brought by the National Trading Standards eCrime Team, based in North Yorkshire and York. The team worked closely with Action Fraud, who provided valuable intelligence support.
Between July 2012 and November 2013 Mr Saunders set up a number of businesses through which he operated his scam. He used some of them to convince small business owners from all over the UK that they were eligible for a 70% grant for website work and online advertising to promote their own businesses.
He told them that to access “70% of the value” of the grant all they had to do was pay 30% of it upfront to a company called Blue Tech Media, which would carry out work to the full value of the grant. After taking the upfront payment, Blue Tech Media, ultimately controlled by Saunders, either produced no work at all or produced work of such poor quality that it was of no commercial value.
Many of the small business owners paid around £300 to £400 each and when they tried to get their money back they were unable to get hold of the defendant. National Trading Standards eCrime Team investigators tracked the money to the accounts of some of the businesses Mr Saunders controlled and to his own personal accounts.
Cllr Nick Emmerson, Lead Councillor of Trading Standards at Sutton Council, said:
“We want to warn small businesses in Sutton to be on their guard if approached by anyone offering to provide online promotion of their businesses with a generous grant towards the full cost of the work. If it sounds too good to be true, then this is likely to be the case.
“Sutton Council wants to thank the National Trading Standards eCrime Team for prosecuting this online business fraudster and for drawing the scam to our attention.”
Lord Toby Harris, Chair of National Trading Standards, said:
“The actions of this criminal operation have blighted a large number of small business owners struggling to compete in the current economic climate and I am pleased that this investigation has seen justice served. National Trading Standards is committed to safeguarding business and this sentence sends a strong signal to perpetrators intent on deceiving consumers and businesses that their underhand tactics will not be tolerated.
“I urge any small businesses that are experiencing similar examples of fraud to contact Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040.”
Notes to Editors
About National Trading Standards
National Trading Standards delivers national and regional consumer protection enforcement. Its Board is made up of senior and experienced heads of local government trading standards from around England and Wales with an independent Chair. Its purpose is to protect consumers and safeguard legitimate businesses by tackling serious national and regional consumer protection issues and organised criminality and by providing a “safety net” to limit unsafe consumer goods entering the UK and protecting food supplies by ensuring the animal feed chain is safe.
National Trading Standards eCrime Team
- Funded by the National Trading Standards Board, the National Trading Standards eCrime Team recognises that a secure and safe online environment that protects consumers and allows businesses to flourish is vital to the long term success of the UK economy.
- The eCrime Team provides a national resource to support all local authority areas in England and Wales, tackling the increasing threat to businesses and consumers in relation to internet scams and rip-offs. There are separate arrangements in place in Scotland.