A convicted scammer who was previously jailed for setting up fake businesses in Moray is back in prison for masterminding a £500,000 bank fraud and money laundering scheme.
The Insolvency Service secured convictions against five people including the illegal operation’s 49-year-old ringleader Neale Rothera.
He, along with help from associates, set up four sham furniture and carpet-selling firms in Leicestershire, England, as a front to commit complex crimes between 2012 and 2013.
Leicester Crown Court jailed Rothera for six years and four months on Tuesday March 19 after he previously pled guilty to four counts of fraud by false representation and one count of money laundering.
Accomplice Shona Walters, 54, of Church Street, Lossiemouth, who admitted to one count of fraud by false representation and one count of money laundering, was sentenced to 19 months in prison – suspended for two years – 20 days rehabilitation activity and 140 hours of unpaid work.
Bank lost £562,901.64 which has never been paid back
Rothera, formerly of Station Road, Quorn, Leicestershire, was also disqualified as a company director for nine years.
His organised crime gang’s antics cost banks a total of £562,901.64, which has never been recovered.
They abused so-called invoice factoring agreements, a legitimate type of finance allowing companies to access money tied up in unpaid invoices from banks, instead of having to wait 30-90 days to be paid by their customers.
It was alleged that fraudulent activity occurred between four firms – Thistle Interiors Ltd, Sorrel Trading Ltd, Wakefield Trading Ltd, and Penn Interiors Ltd – and financial services institutions.
Investigations by the Insolvency Service revealed many of the customers Rothera’s companies claimed to deal with either did not exist or they had not traded with them in the manner suggested by the invoices.
Investigator spent years probing ‘sophisticated, persistent, and carefully planned fraud’
Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service Mark Stephens said his probe, which lasted a number of years, had uncovered “a very sophisticated, persistent, and carefully planned fraud”.
He added: “Neale Rothera was the common theme throughout, devising the schemes and orchestrating their implementation.
“Rothera was ably assisted by the others who fronted the companies or helped him launder the fraudulently obtained funds while he acted as a shadow director.”
The scheme was the brainchild of Rothera, who was previously convicted of fraud in 2011.
Rothera used his latest ill-gotten gains towards compensation he was ordered to pay after being convicted of another fraud offence in Scotland.
Neale Rother previously preyed on people in Moray, stealing thousands of pounds from them
He was sentenced at Elgin Sherriff Court in April 2012 after conning people out of £53,000 by fraudulently selling caravans at Silver Sands Holiday Park in Lossiemouth that did not belong to him.
Rothera was spared jail at the time after paying back the cash – instead being sentenced to 300 hours of unpaid work.
However, it later emerged that a year after being given a second chance, he engineered another scam – this time pocketing £48,530.
He returned to Elgin Sheriff Court to be jailed for two years after sparking a two-year search for him across Europe that ended with his arrest in Latvia during the summer of 2017.
It was revealed around then that he had never completed the 300 hours of unpaid work he was ordered to do in April 2012 or paid the fine that was imposed in their place.
Rothera’s accomplices Simon Wakefield, Frederick Penn, and Laura Perkins were also all sentenced during the same hearing at Leicester Crown Court last week.
Their ringleader was unable to put himself forward as a company director, as no bank would enter into a credit agreement with him.
Rothera consequently enlisted the help of Walters, Wakefield and Penn who became the sole directors of Thistle Interiors Ltd, Wakefield Trading Ltd, and Penn Interiors Ltd, and acted on his behalf.
Walters, Wakefield and Penn played a willing and active role in dishonestly helping secure the factoring agreements for the companies and in obtaining the money from the banks.
They all also maintained the lie that Rothera was actually called Neil Franklin as part of the deception.
Once the credit had been successfully secured, the funds were either withdrawn in cash by each of the defendants or transferred into other accounts.
Wakefield withdrew £235,340 of the fraudulently obtained funds on Rothera’s behalf during a two-month period in July and August 2012.
When interviewed by Insolvency Service investigators, Wakefield said that Rothera in return had paid for his car, gave him free meals, and provided free drink for him and his family.
Neale Rothera’s dishonest accomplices were sentenced
Simon Wakefield, 53, of St Mary’s Crescent, East Leake, Nottinghamshire, pleaded guilty to one count of fraud by false representation and one count of money laundering in July 2022.
He was sentenced to 22 months in prison, suspended for two years, 10 days rehabilitation activity, and 175 hours of unpaid work.
Frederick Penn, 76, of Roughlands Drive, Carronshore, Falkirk, also pleaded guilty to one count of fraud and one count of money laundering on the first day of the trial in January 2024.
He was sentenced to 19 months in prison, suspended for two years, 20 days rehabilitation activity, and 140 hours of unpaid work.
Laura Perkins, 31, of Mundy Close, Burton on the Wolds, Leicestershire, also pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering in October 2020.
Perkins, a bar manager who worked for Rothera, was handed an 18-month community order and ordered to complete 50 hours of unpaid work.
A decision was made not to prosecute the director of Sorrel Trading Ltd due to insufficient evidence.
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