FIVE members of a travelling family are facing jail, along with a friend, for ripping off hundreds of elderly people in a £1m-plus gardening and roofing scam.
More than 20 vulnerable people in North Yorkshire were among the victims of the Price family in the latter stages of their four-year nationwide fraud.
The gang also targeted people near their caravan site on Humberside and travelled to Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Essex to con pensioners.
They are thought to have made more than £1m by overcharging for simple gardening jobs and poor-quality roofing work – some of which was never carried out.
Details of the crimes – detected by consumer watchdogs in North Yorkshire – can now be reported after the final members of the gang were dealt with yesterday.
Leader David Price Sr, 42, of The Paddock, Mill Lane, Brigg, Humberside, involved his sons, Abraham, 20, and David Jr, 19, and his brother Shane Sr, 41.
Teesside Crown Court heard that the boss and his wife, Angelina, 40, operated a large number of bank accounts in which they deposited large cheques.
Family associate James Cunningham, of Wood Lane, Castleford, West Yorkshire, was also involved in the fraud, Neil Davey, QC, prosecuting, said.
The 26-year-old was caught on a hidden camera committing a distraction burglary at the home of a 99-year-old in Batley, West Yorkshire, while he was on bail.
If the family found an easy target, they would repeatedly visit them, draining their victims’ savings by charging exorbitant amounts for simple gardening chores.
At other times, the gang would claim roofing work was necessary, but when trading standards officers called in experts to check the work, the jobs had not been completed.
Mr Davey told the court: “Victims were usually women, usually old and invariably vulnerable, typically through the effects of old age or illness.
“David Price led a team and the team made it their business to identify householders who could easily be overcharged for gardening and roofing work. The team made a substantial amount of money like this.”
North Yorkshire trading standards officers acted after a spate of cons was reported in the Thirsk area of North Yorkshire, close to where the Prices had set up an illegal camp.
The investigation spiralled and culminated in more than 100 officers raiding the Brigg campsite, in Mill Lane, in September 2009.
The scale of the fraud amounted to £175,645 on the court indictment, totalling 81 named victims, but officials believe the real number of victims was in the hundreds, many of whom are now dead, and that more than £1m was dishonestly charged.
David Price Sr, Abraham Price, David Price Jr, Shane Price Sr and Cunningham all admitted conspiracy to defraud at earlier court hearings.
The gang boss also pleaded guilty to money laundering offences as well as the theft of £600 from a 96-year-old blind woman.
His wife, Angelina, their sons, Abraham and David Jr, as well as Cunningham admitted money laundering, and they will be sentenced next month.
A 17-year-old was yesterday given a six-month referral order after admitting attempting to convert criminal property and concealing criminal property.
After the plea, no evidence was offered against Bernadette Price, 41, and Shane Price Jr, 20, who faced money laundering charges.
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