2:29 pm, January 8, 2019
A CAR dealer in north Wales has gone on trial over 24 charges of fraud and one of fraudulent trading.
Gwyn Meirion Roberts, 50, of Dolgoed, Llandudno Junction, ran the Bangor-based Menai Vehicle Solutions where five people are said to have lost a combined £147,500, reported North Wales Live.
He is alleged to have cheated the Porsche sports car customers in 2015 between January and October.
According to prosecutor Matthew Corbett-Jones, Roberts took thousands of pounds plus part-exchange vehicles off them but the customers never got the high-end cars that they were promised. Instead, it is alleged Roberts used the cash taken and the money raised from the sale of the part-ex vehicles to shore up his company.
In another instance, said the news website, a customer who had bought an Audi on finance and wanted to settle the arrangement was instructed by Roberts to pay £28,500 into his firm for him to pay it off. However, she was subsequently told by Audi that the contract was still in arrears. She then paid Audi £25,000 to clear it.
When police interviewed Roberts, he claimed to be incompetent rather than dishonest, the court was told.
Roberts, who established the business in 2008, denies the charges.
The trial continues and could take six weeks.
