Scammers who defrauded a series of investors out of hundreds of thousands of pounds also destroyed families and marriages, according to one of their victims.
Audrey Osborne and her three sons, Gary, Ian and Clayton Moore, from Neath, received suspended sentences at Swansea Crown Court in October after admitting a series of charges relating to fraudulently obtaining mortgages and encouraging people to invest in developments which never happened.
The fraud dated back to 2006 and lasted a number of years.
Earlier this week it was announced the office of the Attorney General had referred their sentences to the appeal court to decide whether they had been unduly lenient.
One of their victims has now welcomed the move, and spoken out about the impact on her life of the crime committed against her.
Osborne and her sons ran a number of companies including Credence Finance and Dreamscape Homes, through which they fraudulently obtained mortgages. They also encouraged people, including family friends and employees, to invest in developments, largely at West Wind in Neath.
The investors provided amounts of around £25k, some re-mortgaging their own homes to do so. None received a return as the land was never developed.
Victims included one man whose son was diagnosed with cancer, and who was persuaded to invest £30,000, with some of the payment coming from a critical life policy. Other friends invested money from retirement funds.
In total, the investment fraud was worth more than £1 million.
Another victim was one of their office managers, Claire Garland, who was hoodwinked and ended up losing more than £82,000.
Explaining the impact on her, Claire said: "I worked for Credence for three years and they were like a family. I would never have agreed to work with them if I had known what they were doing.
"I had to sit a lot of exams in financial services to be able to get well paid work to afford the mortgage they’d left me with. That took me away a lot, to Manchester, Bristol and Reading, which meant I was away from my elderly parents.
"My mother needed a lot of care, and I didn't see her as much as I would have liked, so to hear the mitigation for Audrey Osborne that she had to care for her mother was very difficult to take.
"The experience affected my whole life. Everything was delayed. I'm married and we went through IVF and now have two children, but it all had a knock-on effect. It made me angry and depressed.
"In total I invested £82,000 which I didn't get back. That is money which we could have spent raising our two children.
"I’m delighted the sentence is being reviewed as two years suspended sentences and therapy for alcohol and mental health issues really didn’t feel like a punishment. It felt like the justice system handed out help to the defendants and left us victims with nothing to help us to move on from the 12 years of hell they’ve put us through.
"People have lost tens of thousands, marriages, family, quality of lives worked hard for to achieve and they were given a pat on the back for stealing all these things that can never be replaced. I felt they showed no remorse in Swansea Crown Court.
"I appreciate we are in unprecedented times with Covid affecting numbers in prisons but that simply cannot be an excuse to allow people to break the law without any consequences.
"I also understand that there has been a large passage of time whilst the case was awaiting trial but the defendants were also compensated for this by the justice system. Yet again there was no consideration for the victims when we too have been in limbo and affected by the stress of the investigation, huge life changing losses and the impending trial.
"I really hope that the case is reviewed by the unduly lenient sentence team from the perspective of the victims this time and not those of the defendants. More to the point, I hope for a more appropriate sentence and a sense of justice for each and every victim involved".
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In total, the family pleaded guilty to 15 counts of fraud, including conspiracy to commit fraud, and obtaining money transfers by deception and fraud.
Audrey Osborne, aged 65 and of Fforest Hill in Aberdulais, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to make false representation, obtaining money transfer by deception and three charges of making a false representation. She was sentenced to two years imprisonment on each count, to run concurrently, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to carry out a ten days rehabilitation requirement.
Gary Moore, aged 43, also of Fforest Hill, admitted conspiracy to make a false representation, obtaining money transfer by deception and three charges of making a false representation. He was sentenced to two years imprisonment on each count concurrent, suspended for 12 months with three requirements; ten days rehabilitation activity requirement, alcohol treatment requirement for nine months, and to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.
Clayton Moore, aged 46, also of Fforest Hill, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to make a false representation, making a false representation, and four counts of obtaining money transfer by deception. He was sentenced to two years imprisonment on each count to run concurrently, suspended for 12 months, and 20 days of rehabilitation activity requirement.
Ian Moore, aged 44, of Main Road in Cilfrew, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to make a false representation and two counts of making a false representation. He was sentenced to two years imprisonment on each count, to run concurrently, suspended for 12 months, with 15 days rehabilitation requirement and a mental health treatment requirement for 12 months.
A spokesman for the Attorney General's office said this week: “The Solicitor General was shocked by this case and wishes to express his sympathies to the victims. I can confirm that the Solicitor General has referred Audrey Osborne's, Clayton Moore’s, Ian Moore’s and Gary Moore’s sentences to the Court of Appeal as he agrees that they appear unduly lenient.
"It is now for the court to decide whether to increase the sentences.”
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