Two sentenced after defrauding elderly Chippenham resident
The victim spent over £400,000 on work that did not need to be carried out
Two men have been sentenced after defrauding an elderly Chippenham resident.
They carried out unnecessary work on the 81-year-old's home in June 2021 after cold calling them saying they were in the area cleaning gutters in roofs.
The work included replacing the timber and tiles in the victim's roof, and repairing damp in the loft.
The victim ultimately paid £406,975 for the repair, including a company where one of those convicted, Keith Kenneth Ball, from Grays in Essex, was the sole company director.
A surveyor later found the roof replacement should not have taken place, and that it should not have cost more than £4,000 if it did.
Ball, 63, and Oleksandr Romashyn, 35, from London, were found guilty of money laundering and sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court on 10 April.
Ball was sentenced to 45 months in prison.
Romashyn was given a 21-month prison sentenced, which is suspended for two years.
Wiltshire's Trading Standards team are also undertaking a Proceeds of Crime investigation against both Ball and Romashyn to obtain compensation for their victim.
This includes £130,000 of assets belonging to Ball that he must pay within three months, or face an additional 18 months in prison.