The number of fraud cases that are appearing in court these days means that it can be easy to take this style of fraud for granted. There are a great number of fraudulent activities being punished these days but there are still some fraudulent activities that can stand out from the crowd. There is no getting away from the fact that anything which is billed as being at a million pound will be of interest to most people and this is certainly the case for a case that is taking place at Welshpool Court.
A 76 year old man, who has been described as a “tax and investment consultant” is facing 31 charges of fraud related offences which carry a value of around £1.3m. David Vaughan Jones from Welshpool has declined to enter a plea against any of the charges and he will face a preliminary hearing at Mold Crown Court near the end of August. There will also be time allocated for case management; such is the magnitude of the case.
A wide range of charges are at play here
Jones will face 15 charges of obtaining a money transfer by deception while he will face another 4 charges of fraud by abuse of position. He will also face three charges of fraud by false representation, 7 charges of theft from the person of another and 1 charge of making a false instrument with intent for the instrument to be accepted as genuine.
Jones will also face a charge of sending an email to intimidate witnesses and to interfere with a police investigation. This is quite a list of alleged crimes and the charges date as far back as 1994. This is over 20 years and the biggest amount of money for a single charge is £210,000. That alone would be of interest but when you have other 30 charges on offer, you can see how the amount of money involved with the case started to add up.
The list of charges for Jones lists a lot of different activities and elements. There are mentions of high interest offshore account investments, bequests, building society and tax rebate payments, pension funds and even the use of power of attorney. This indicates that Jones is not a man to use one tactic; he has preferred to focus on a wide range of ways to make money. Jones has been granted bail on the condition that he does not attempt to make contact with any of the prosecution witnesses.
The diversity of charges means support is needed
The diversity of the nature of the individual fraud charges means that there is a need to find a solicitor that has experience and expertise in a number of different frauds. While there will be similarity between many of the frauds, it may be that there are nuances between the different types of fraud which are worth detailing and explaining in court. There is a lot to be said for calling on the most effective defence solicitor and if you have a number of different charges, it is vital that you find an experienced solicitor.
There is also the fact that the defence solicitor will be looking to achieve the best outcome for his client. While there will be some people who debate the merits of sending a 76 year old man to jail, the scale of the charges facing Jones means that if he is found guilty on a large proportion of the charges, it is very likely that there will be calls for a custodial sentence. There shouldn’t really be allowances for the age of the person who is facing a jail sentence.
You can see why there is sometimes an argument made for not sending a mother to jail or someone who has responsibilities for their loved ones, but inconsistencies in how punishments are handed out is something that many people have an issue with regarding the law in the UK.
However, inconsistencies do exist and this is something that an experienced and reliable defence solicitor will be able to act on. If there is a chance that the punishment for an individual client can be lowered or mitigated due to their age or background, the right sort of solicitor would be focusing on achieving this goal. This is why many observers will be keen to focus on this case and see what the eventual outcome is.
Andrew Reilly is a freelance writer with a focus on news stories and consumer interest articles. He has been writing professionally for 9 years but has been writing for as long as he can care to remember. When Andrew isn’t sat behind a laptop or researching a story, he will be found watching a gig or a game of football.