A fraudster has been warned he faces an “inevitable” prison sentence after masterminding another scam in Moray.
Neale Roethera, who lives near Leicester, was spared jail in 2012 after conning seven people out of a combined £53,000 by selling caravans at Silver Sands Holiday Park in Lossiemouth that did not belong to him.
The 45-year-old avoided being locked up at the time after paying back the cash – instead being sentenced to 300 hours of unpaid work.
However, now it has emerged that a year after being given a second chance the purported businessman masterminded another scam – this time pocketing £48,530.
Yesterday Rothera appeared at Elgin Sheriff Court and was remanded in custody, after earlier being found guilty of a single charge of fraud.
Court documents show that the scammer set up a fake business called Sutherlands Giftware Ltd, which he claimed operated from an office in Tomintoul.
He then used the fake name of James Gardner when communicating with Skipton Business Finance, before showing Mark Millhouse from the firm the apparent office and bogus paperwork to dupe him into believing the company traded from there.
The false name was also used with Santander to open a bank account in the name of the firm.
Invoices claimed to be for goods or services provided by Sutherlands Giftware Ltd were then sent to Skipton Business Finance, which supplies advances on payments due to companies, before the cash was withdrawn from the account between June 20, 2013 and December 31, 2013.
The charge states that there was no intention that the money would be repaid.
Rothera appeared in court yesterday to be sentenced.
However, despite no background social work reports being available, he was remanded in custody to begin an “inevitable” prison term.
Defence solicitor Matthew O’Neill said: “There have been discussions about this matter over the course of the last couple of years, he knows there’s only going to be one outcome here due to his previous convictions and the gravity of this matter. He has resigned himself to that fact.”
Sherrif Olga Pasportnikov, while ordering Rothera to be remanded in custody, said: “There’s no point delaying the inevitable.”
Rothera, who lives on Station Road in Quorn near Loughborough, will appear in the dock again to be sentenced on February 21.
