Penmaenmawr man avoids jail after eBay fraud

Oct 8 2009

A DAD of four was fined £360 after defrauding clients on eBay.

Andrew Geoffrey Clare, 41, took customers’ money for two Nintendo DS Lite gaming machines, four mobile phones, a Tom Tom satnav and a GPS receiver but failed to supply the items to them, Llandudno magistrates heard on Tuesday.

Clare, of Bryn Awel, Esplanade, Penmaenmawr, pleaded guilty to six charges of fraud by false representation, which date back to 2007, under the Fraud Act 2006.

He also asked for two similar charges to be taken into consideration. Magistrates dismissed a further five internet fraud allegations.

Prosecutor Elis (corr) Gomer said: "The defendant in 2007 started an eBay account which he used to trade items over the internet.

"The problem arose when the defendant was buying certain items and selling them. In certain situations, the defendant was selling items which had not reached his possession."

The prosecutor said the problems "worsened" and the internet provider suspended the eBay account. He said the defendant then opened a second eBay account.

But the prosecutor said: "Similar problems ensued in that the defendant was selling items and taking payment when he did not have the items in his possession."

Eventually, that account was also suspended.

Defending solicitor Don Roberts said what started out as Clare’s hobby became an "unholy mess".

He said: "If he made some small amount of money, all well and good. The second site was opened to resolve difficulties in favour of people (owed goods). It seems to have gone pear- shaped from there. A mess turned into low-level criminal activity."

His client was embarrassed and ashamed. He had been under a lot of strain after seeking to resolve the administrative mess.

Mr Roberts said: "People have made payments for items they did not receive. He understood they were entitled to be compensated and wanted to pay compensation."

He was anxious to pay people not already compensated under the PayPal system.

Chairman of the bench Philip Evans told Clare it was not a sophisticated fraud and he had tried to remedy the situation.

But he added: "You exposed the successful bidders to potential loss of money."

Magistrates fined Clare £60 for each of the six admitted charges, a total of £360. He was also ordered to pay £60 prosecution costs and a £15 victims’ surcharge. He was further told to pay £713.67 compensation to his victims.

A spokesman for eBay said he was satisfied with the sentencing.

Kevin Morgan, from eBay’s law enforcement team, said: "We are satisfied with Mr Clare’s sentence."We hope it sends a clear signal to any seller who attempts to defraud buyers on our site that they will be caught and punished.

"We will continue to work closely with law enforcement agencies across the country, such as Llandudno police, to tackle unscrupulous sellers and ensure that all of our users are protected."