A 45-year-old man, who stole nearly £60,000 from customers and an insurance company in his role as boss of the Plymouth Caravan Centre is preparing for life behind bars.
Shaun Cole was sentenced to 31 months in prison for his exploits, which saw him defraud both parties to the tune of £59,700, the Plymouth Herald reports.
Jason Beal, of the Crown Prosecution Service explained how Mr Cole would sell tourers on behalf of their owners, under the agreement that he took a five per cent commission on the sale price, while also charging the vendors to service the caravans.
However, once a sale was completed, Mr Cole would often neglect to tell the owners that the tourer had been sold and, instead, pocketed the cash.
And in the instances where he informed clients about the sales, he would also mislead them about the price, telling them it fetched far less and keeping the difference.
In addition to this, Mr Cole overcharged customers for servicing vehicles and in one instance told the authorities that 14 caravans had been damaged, claiming £11,000 in insurance which he then took for himself.
The defendant admitted to 13 charges of fraud and was sentenced at Plymouth Crown Court.
Mr Cole’s case came as Plymouth police continue to look for answers to a recent fire that broke out aboard a tourer belong to a charity in the area.
