A Facebook Marketplace from Rotherham who defrauded people trying to buy furniture during lockdown has been sent to prison for money laundering and fraud.
Ryan Rhys Burns, 32, of 26 St Mary’s Road, Rotherham, conned customers out of £14,544 for furnishings that didn’t exist or completely unfit for purpose.
More than 100 complaints were made by consumers between August 2020 and July 2022 about two online businesses – Bespoke Furnishings and Rustic Furnishings – which Burns ran to carry out a widespread fraud.
Both companies operated via Facebook Marketplace and displayed photographs of the furniture that they claimed to make. The pages often appeared as advertisements on victims’ Facebook feed after they had been searching for furniture online.
Burns used a network of ten bank accounts under his and his partner’s names to launder money. He spent the stolen money on holidays, restaurants, take-aways and other luxury items. He also used fake addresses in the latter part of the fraud.
Victims were met with lies and hostility from either Burns or his partner, who frequently acted on his behalf, when they enquired about a refund. One victim described how he “tried to be patient and polite to start with, but then realised I was just the victim of a scammer who was repeatedly lying to me”. Another said: “I feel as if I have been scammed and wonder how somebody could do this to someone else.” On limited occasions, refunds were given but this appeared to be done reluctantly and only after victims exerted a significant amount of effort to get their money back.
Burns was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment under the Fraud Act 2006 and Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, and will serve half.
The investigation was conducted by the National Trading Standards Regional Investigations Team (Yorkshire and Humber), hosted at City of York Council, and was supported by Rotherham Trading Standards.
Lord Michael Bichard, Chair of National Trading Standards, said: “Stealing from people looking to improve their homes while pandemic restrictions forced them to stay indoors shows that Burns had a callous disregard for his victims, inflicting additional distress during an already turbulent time.
“This sentence sends a strong message that fraud does not go unpunished and I congratulate all those involved in bringing Burns to justice and preventing him from targeting anyone else.”
Ruth Andrews, Regional Investigations Manager for the Yorkshire and Humber at City of York Council added: “Many consumers lost significant sums of money to this fraud, which was committed when many people were feeling particularly vulnerable during the pandemic.
“The actions of Burns, including failing to refund disappointed customers and his behaviour in response to their complaints, was completely unacceptable and deliberate, and has been reflected in his sentencing today. I’m grateful to our persistent and hardworking team of investigators here in York and in Rotherham.”
