A Southwark man has been jailed after taking £22,000 for shoddy roof works that started leaking after six weeks.
Darren Conroy was sentenced to sixteen months imprisonment on February 21 at Snaresbrook Crown Court after admitting to money laundering and converting criminal property.
The court heard how the victim was quoted £43,000 for works worth £2,250 by the fake company London Top Roofing Ltd.
The scam began on December 2, 2020, when two individuals calling themselves ‘James’ and ‘Richard’, convinced an Islington resident their roof needed replacing.
Claiming they were from London Top Roofing Ltd, they quoted the resident £43,000, and demanded a deposit of £22,000.
The deposit was paid into Conroy’s personal account who ‘James’ and ‘Richard’ called ‘the big boss’.
The work to replace the roof was due to start the next day, but ‘James’ and ‘Richard’ did not show up. The pair were never identified.
Instead, another roofing company was subcontracted to carry out the work.
A payment of £3,500 was made to them from Mr Conroy’s account. However, the company also charged the resident £3,655 for building materials and labour.
Meanwhile, the resident was receiving a barrage of messages from ‘James’, demanding a further £21,000.
Islington Council’s Trading Standards team were contacted and launched an investigation.
Officers discovered London Top Roofing Ltd did not exist as a limited company and their website was a “fake front”.
A report by an expert surveyor found the roof replacement was unnecessary and substandard.
This was confirmed when the roof started leaking six weeks after it was replaced.
The report said the real value of the work was no more than £2,250.
Mr Conroy was found to have received the money through the fraud. Within two days, he had paid it all out to either his own personal or business accounts, or withdrawn it.
He had also transferred money to the sub-contracted roofing company.
Islington Council brought Mr Conroy to justice by showing the victim had paid the money directly into his bank account, and that Mr Conroy either knew or had reason to believe that the money was from fraud.
As part of the sentencing process, Islington will ask the court to award compensation to the victim to alleviate financial losses from the scam.
Cllr John Woolf, Executive Member for Community Safety, said: ‘It’s very distressing that one of our residents was targeted by criminals in their own home, where they should feel safe. We want everyone in Islington to have a safe place to call home, as we work to build a more equal future for us all.
“Thanks to the relentless work of our Trading Standards and Legal Services teams, this perpetrator has faced justice. We have zero tolerance for fraud in Islington and will take similar tough action against anyone attempting to exploit our residents.”
Residents are encouraged to use a trader approval scheme recommended by the council, such as?Buy With Confidence?or?Which Trusted Trader?to find traders needed to carry out home improvements.