Elderly People Subjected To Despicable Scam

On 24th of November,officers from Bromley, Thames Valley Police, ScamBusters, Bromley Trading Standards and London RART executed search warrants at two addresses in Wokingham, Berkshire. This operation was part of an investigation into the defrauding of elderly people across Bromley and South East London.

Three people were arrested, as a result of the operation; a 46 year old male, a 30 year old male and 17 year old female. The suspects were involved in a scam which frequently involved cold calling elderly people and deceiving them into believing that remedial work was needed on their homes. This caused the victims untold emotional and financial distress as the work carried out was sub standard and charged at grossly inflated prices.

London RART obtained restraint orders against the defendants involved in the fraud, which had the effect of freezing approximately £1.2 million of the suspect's assets, including top of the range cars, property and cash held in bank accounts. A large quantity of cash was also seized from the suspect's address. London RART is working closely with Bromley Trading Standards and Bromley Police.

A RART spokesman said; " the initial success of this joint operation shows the importance of different agencies working together and highlights that this sort of despicable behaviour against the elderly will not be tolerated in our society and further, that those involved stand to lose more than just their liberty"