Couple ordered to repay over £860,000 to three elderly victims
A 51-year-old woman and a 51-year-old man from Walsall offered to perform work for the victims but charged excessive rates or didn't carry out any work at all
A couple from Walsall have been ordered to repay over £860,000 that they stole from three elderly victims.
A confiscation order was placed on a 51-year-old woman and a 51-year-old man are a proceeds of crime act investigation by Warwickshire Police.
The couple will be required to repay the full amount within three months or face custodial sentences of five years for the woman or six and a half years for the man.
This money will be given to the victims and/or their families in compensation.
Warwickshire Police say their investigation into the couple's activities began in 2018.
They has been defrauding a man from Snitterfield, Warwickshire, a woman from Kidlington, Oxfordshire, and a woman from Wolverhampton – all in their 70s.
Police say the couple had offered to perform gardening, construction, and housekeeping works for all three of the victims, charging excessive rates and in some cases not carrying out any work at all.
The victim in Snitterfield was repeatedly taken to banks and ATM machines to withdraw cash and make out cheques to the couple, who had ingrained themselves into his life.
A bank teller raised a report with police due to repeated visits by the victim, despite the victim having historically not used his chequing account very often.
Police say the other victims were found after the discovery of unusually large financial transactions that were being made to the accounts of the suspects.
On 30 January 2025, both suspects pleaded guilty to stealing £338,890 from the man in Snitterfield between July 2014 and June 2018.
The man also pleaded guilty to stealing £273,990 between January 2014 and December 2018 from a victim in Kidlington, and an additional £9,110 from a victim in Wolverhampton between March and September 2019.
Bob Turner of Warwickshire Police Economic Crime Unit said “These offences were truly shocking, not just in relation to the values that were stolen, but also the predatory and relentless way they were carried out, motivated entirely by greed.
“It is satisfying after all this time to finally get some justice for the families of the victims as well as depriving the culprits of their benefit from these offences.
“This case should serve as a lesson to those involved in the financial exploitation of vulnerable victims in Warwickshire. The Economic Crime Unit will come after your assets where they derive from criminality.”