A fraudulent family of mother and sons property developers have been jailed for a conning investors out of more than £1.5m. Audrey Osbourn and her sons Gary, Clayton, and Ian Moore funnelled money which people entrusted them with into keep their sinking firm afloat and into paying their own mortgages and general household bills. Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard many of those the defendants scammed were friends and all have suffered huge financial and emotional damage.
The defendants had previously been handed suspended sentences for their fraudulent activities but those sentences were successfully challenged in the Court of Appeal as being unduly lenient. Their guilty pleas were vacated and a retrial took place. The decision of the Court of Appeal could not be made public at the time due to reporting restrictions which have now been lifted.
The four defendants were subsequently convicted of conspiracy to commit fraud and to multiple counts of mortgage fraud following a nine-week trial. The defendants, who benefited to the tune of more than £2.8m from their offending, returned to the dock on Thursday to face sentence.
