8:19 am, January 23, 2024
A crooked car salesman who conned a customer out of £80,000 has been jailed for a string of fraud offences.
Ben Taylor, 32, lured his victim in by falsely advertising a car for sale online, allowing him to scam him out of tens of thousands of pounds.
The incident formed part of a wider investigation into the Swansea resident by Tarian – a regional organised crime unit consisting of three southern Wales police forces.
Officers eventually caught up with Taylor when he made off from a swanky London hotel after failing to pay a Home Alone-2 style bill of £11,000, which he had racked up during his stay.
The offence placed him in breach of a previous suspended sentence and he was summoned to appear at Cardiff Crown Court.
During a hearing last Tuesday (Jan 16), Taylor was sentenced for fraud by false representation, fraud by abuse of position, make off without payment and reach of suspended sentence.
The court heard that between October 2019 and October 2021, whilst working as a car salesman, Taylor fraudulently obtained over £80,000 from a victim by falsely advertising a vehicle for sale.
He was jailed for 40 months, which law enforcement say will act as a deterrent for other dodgy dealers.
Detective Sergeant Alistair Frame, of Tarian’s Regional Economic Crime Unit, said: ‘At Tarian we are committed to investigating fraud and continually seek to bring offenders to justice.
‘We welcome the sentence imposed by Cardiff Crown Court and hope it will act as a deterrent to other individuals engaged in fraud or other types of economic crime.’
