69-year-old Stephen Mills has been handed 24 months suspended for two years and disqualified from being a director for 10 years.
The prosecution presented evidence demonstrating that A1 Lofts and Extensions Ltd. misled customers seeking home renovations.
The company had claimed customer funds would be held in a secure client account in the event of the company’s insolvency.
This assurance, which was once true, was false during the period relevant to the case.
When the company went into liquidation, many customers suffered significant financial losses, with unfinished work and, in some cases left living on building sites with insecure properties.
Despite the company being in liquidation before the investigation and legal proceedings, the decision was made to prosecute the director, Stephen Mills. He held the position of director throughout the relevant period and, for a significant portion of that time, acted as the sole director.
Evidence presented in court showed Mr. Mills personally made false representations to at least one witness and held overall responsibility for the company’s sales and marketing activities.
He did not cooperate with the investigation, but the prosecution presented compelling evidence from many sources, including the victims, liquidators, and former client account accountants.
The jury found Mr Mills guilty on all counts, including two counts of fraud by false representation and nine counts of breaching the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations for misleading actions.
He was sentenced to 24 months imprisonment (suspended for two years), disqualified from being a director for 10 years and subject to a 20-day rehabilitation requirement.
During sentencing the judge said “In laymen’s terms, they (the jury) did not believe you and you are now a convicted fraudster. You allowed people to pay their money into the client account knowing full well there were no safeguards and monies not used for that project.”
Amanda Poole, Head of Trading Standards at Surrey County Council said: “I’d like to thank and recognise the victims and witnesses who came forward and worked with us during investigations to bring Mr Mills, former director of A1 Lofts and Extensions Ltd to justice for his key role in this fraud.
“Fraud isn’t always easy to spot, and brings misery, stress and worry to our residents.
“We are determined to continue cracking down on fraudsters, as well as keeping up our work to inform and advise residents on how stay safe from them.”
To find out more about scams and how to keep yourself safe from them, please visit: www.surreycc.gov.uk/tradingstandards
