iStockA Scot living in Spain who forced a new mum’s business to close during a £700,000 fraud has been jailed for five and a half years.
Stuart Wilson set up apparent legitimate companies as fronts to obtain a range of goods, including food, drink, and electronics.
Wilson used the identities of real people to place as directors of the firms, with the 40-year-old and his gang working from a “boiler room” to con a total of 32 different unwitting suppliers.
One victim was heavily pregnant when her small business was targeted.
On Thursday, Wilson was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow.
The conman, who had latterly been living in Marbella before being arrested at Prestwick Airport, earlier admitted to a fraud charge.
Lord Arthurson cut the jail term from seven years due to the guilty plea.
The court heard that a probe was sparked after an employee and former director of a tissue company contacted police in November 2022.
He stated that there were reasons to believe that Wilson’s firm, EK Produce, was part of a fraud.
EK Produce had asked about the supply of paper rolls and offered a 30-day credit of £50,000.
Three orders were made, but no payment was made.
Prosecutor David McLean KC explained: “It was identified that Wilson, along with others, used ostensibly legitimate companies to obtain credit from suppliers.
“Orders were placed with those suppliers, up to and sometimes exceeding the amount of credit, obtaining the goods, then disappearing.”
The fraud was deemed to be one which is referred to as “long firm” where trust and credit credentials are established before large orders are obtained without then paying.
Wilson and others used five apparently proper firms to perpetrate the scam.
This included EK Produce, HLS International, David Kent, Palis Global and Brompton Distributions.
In each case, the details of a real person were used to create “a director”, and unaudited accounts were lodged to Companies House.
Mr McLean added: “This built up a picture of an apparent healthy and credit-worthy business.
“Thereafter, people purporting to represent the companies would contact the suppliers to obtain goods on credit.”
A total of 32 different suppliers were targeted – three of which were victims of more than one of Wilson’s firms.
The businesses targeted ranged from large corporate businesses to sole traders.
Products included white goods, electrical appliances, industrial tissue and mineral water, as well as food, alcohol and children’s toys.
Mr McLean said: “In this way, Wilson obtained total credit to the value of approximately £865,000.
“The total value of the goods obtained in this way was £723,967.”
An investigation found that Wilson operated his companies from a “boiler room” at rented premises in Glasgow’s Hillington.
The delivery addresses for the goods were various locations in the city, as well as Motherwell, Lanarkshire, Paisley, Renfrewshire and Greenock, Inverclyde.
Mr McLean stated that Wilson’s role was to coordinate orders made to suppliers and give instructions to others.
Wilson was “routinely present” in the boiler room and set up communications such as the internet and a phone line there.
The hearing was told that a sole trader who ran Shed Soy Candles was heavily pregnant when dealing with Wilson’s firm.
He was provided with 700 handmade soy scented candles with a value of £5,121 on a 30-day credit payment term.
After the victim was discharged from hospital after giving birth, she contacted Wilson’s firm but was ignored.
Mr McLean added: “She had to stop her business due to the financial loss.”
It was revealed that Wilson has 11 previous offences dating back to 2005, when he was jailed for four years for fraud.
Lord Arthurson told Wilson: “It was by no means a victimless crime. You have a highly relevant conviction, albeit some time ago.
“A substantial custodial sentence is inevitable.”
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