Twelve men have been sentenced in connection with a large scale fraud which saw a Watford man coerced out of £775,000.

In August 2011, a 68-year-old man from Watford, was approached by two men, who insisted that his roof was in need of attention and that they would carry-out minor repairs for a small fee.

In the following months, the two men carried out a series of major unauthorised ‘repairs’ to both the roof and other parts of the property.

The works continued until January 2012, by which point the victim had been ordered to pay £98,000 and serious damage had been caused to his property.

Following this, he was approached by another man who told him he’d carry out further repairs, which were also completely unnecessary.

In mid 2012 another man claiming to working for the HMRC, approached the victim, and told him he was investigating fraudulent work carried out on his home and promised to recover his money, but only after he paid £39,000 in unpaid taxes.

Fearful of prosecution, the victim paid the money, believing the man was who he said he was.

Over the following months he was asked to pay more money to the bogus HMRC official in cash through a series of couriers. The demands for money became more threatening and the victim was told he faced a long prison sentence if he failed to pay the unpaid taxes.

Detective Constable Kelly Gray, one of the investigating officers from Herts Police, said: "Initially the victim didn't believe he had been a victim of a crime, so we had to work very closely with him to make him understand what had happened to him.

"It may seem unbelievable to anyone hearing about this case that someone could find themselves in this situation. The victim is a well-educated, retired professional man who has, over a period of time, been continually worn down by these men and fed a series of lies.

"They were extremely convincing in their manner and told him his roof would fall down if he didn't have the work carried out.

"The victim ended up having to re-mortgage his house to pay them off and in total we believe he handed over £775,000 to these men and by the time we intervened, he was struggling to make ends meet.

"I am pleased with the sentences and hope that the victim can now feel he is able to live in his own home safely, without the threat of them returning."

In total, 15 men were arrested and charged. Two trials took place in March.

The majority were sentenced at St Albans Crown Court on Friday, April 10.

James O’Brien, 49, of Croxley View, Watford was found guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud. He and his brother Michael approached the victim first and started the work on his roof. He was sentenced to five years.

Arthur Smith, 73, of Croxley View, Watford, pleaded guilty to money laundering. He was paid to put the victim’s cheques into his account and then withdraw the cash. He was sentenced to a nine month sentence, suspended for 12 months.

James O’Brien, 51, of Croxley View, Watford, pleaded guilty for transfer of criminal property. He was sentenced to 11 months, suspended for 18 months.

Nathan Newman, 33, also of Croxley View, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud. He carried out work on the house, and was friends with James O’Brien. He was sentenced to three and a half years.  

Another eight men from Hertfordshire, London and Suffolk were also sentenced, receiving between nine months and five years imprisonment.

Paul Watkins, 37, of Rowan Drive, Broxbourne was charged with conspiracy to commit fraud but found not guilty at trial.

John Tayo Wesley, 39, of Fitzneil Street, London, pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation and money laundering. He is awaiting sentence.

Another man was released with no further action taken against him.