You wont get it back! Conman ordered to repay £1 for £40k fraud

Sadly, victims of fraud, be they individuals, charities or businesses, rarely see any money recovered once the fraudster has been prosecuted. Prevention is always much better than a cure.

A sad example here where a conman who stole over £40k was ordered to payback just £1 as he did not have assets to recover.

Unfortunately this person was trusted, despite having appeared on watchdog the UK consumer affairs programme, for previous dealings (not as a presenter!). 

All this was not enough for his neighbours not to trust him.

With his neighbours unaware of his past, he volunteered to act as treasurer for The Parklands management company and would often be given blank cheques by the directors to pay for what they thought were legitimate expenses.

No matter what the organisation, cheques are there to be co-signed and should never be given out blank, basic checks and balances must always be carried out.

Sadly this case shows even families have trust issues, where a jealous sister, stoked £8k from her more successful sibling. As often the case with cheques, its not sophisticated fraud, simply an old cheque book that was left around was used. Also like many frauds, it would not have happened if the opportunity had not presented itself. Again although ordered to repay, the victim is unlikely to recover any funds.