Father and son fraudsters conned pensioners out of savings

Dec 13 2009 Sunday Sun

FATHER and son fraudsters fleeced frail pensioners out of more than £40,000 after going on a swindling-spree across the North.

Peter Paul Reynolds and his son, also called Peter, toured the region targeting vulnerable homeowners and charging huge amounts for building work they never intended to carry out.

Their cruel scam was only uncovered when a 91-year-old victim received a call from her bank informing her that a cheque for £12,550 had bounced.

The elderly woman’s rundown house in Stockton-on-Tees had been targeted by the pair who claimed the property was in urgent need of building work.

But they took the cash and never carried out the renovations.

They then drained more than £37,000 from the bank account of a 69-year-old man in the Bishop Auckland area.

Reynolds snr and his son, both from Honeypot Lane, in the Faverdale area of Darlington, would turn up at his house claiming to have carried out work on the property.

And over a four-week period they siphoned £37,450 out of the pensioner’s account, of which £9,300 was charged to repair the roof.

When the victim realised he was being fleeced he threatened to go to the police and the conmen returned £7,000 to the elderly man.

By the time the crooks were finally snared their scam had already stretched across two force areas and reaped thousands of pounds in cheques and cash.

Last night Det Insp Dave Wolfe, who spearheads a unit called Operation Bombay, designed to clamp down on distraction burglaries across Northumbria, Durham and Teesside, blasted the callous pair.