A contractor who defrauded friends out of £10,000 for renovation work on their property is selling his house to pay them back.
Inverness Sheriff Court was told yesterday that Roddy Munro, of Ben Alder Road, Dalwhinnie, had an offer on his property which he expected to complete soon.
His lawyer, Rory Gowans told Sheriff Margaret Neilson: “He wants to sort this out and come good.
“They are people he grew up with. The house interest appears genuine and he will repay what is outstanding immediately on the sale.”
The court was told that Munro had repaid £2,200 of the cash but a broken foot prevented him from working and paying more.
At an earlier hearing, Munro, 55, had admitted that between June 21 and June 30, 2016, at Station Cottages, Dalwhinnie, and elsewhere, he asked Pauline Warnock and Gordon Yates, having been engaged by them as a contractor in respect of renovation works being undertaken by them, for a payment of £10,000 to pay sub-contractors.
The charge goes on to say that they paid him, but he thereafter used the money for his own use, he did not pay the sub-contractors and obtained £10,000 by fraud.
Mr Gowans added: “The property has been on sale for some time and he has dropped the price. He has a serious offer and the agents are confident it will sell.”
Sheriff Neilson said the offence and the fact had not yet been repaid was “a serious matter.”
She also questioned Munro’s willingness to make good the sum.
But she agreed to defer sentence for another three months to see if the house sale goes through.
She said: “I will adjourn for a further report on restitution until November 22. But I expect matters to be completely resolved or proof to be shown that they are about to complete.
“If not, I will be taking a different course of action.”
