Intimidating fraudster jailed after conning victims out of more than £500,000(2)

Several victims of a serial fraudster have spoken of the impact his crimes after he was sentenced today (Friday 26 July).

Nevada Smith’s family owned three mobile home parks – in Palma Park in Loughborough, Nevada Park in Melton and Lyndhurst Estate in Ingoldmells, Lincolnshire.

Smith targeted elderly and vulnerable residents at these locations between 2012 and 2019, defrauding them of more than half a million pounds. The money they were given was used to buy expensive cars and designer clothes and handbags.

His primary focus was to target those who wanted to downsize their homes. His approach was to sell his victims mobile home that he did not actually own. On some occasions, he part-exchanged the victim’s property for a mobile home but did not hand over the proceeds from the sale.

Smith also bought mobile homes from victims and did not pay the money they were entitled to – even after selling the home on to another buyer.

Smith enlisted the help of Peter Tomlinson – an associate of the family – to act as a would-be buyer to help convince victims to sell.

When victims began to express their concern, Smith would intimidate them, or they would be offered cash as part of an ongoing repayment. However, in some cases these amounts would be insignificant when compared to the overall sum lost – sometimes just a few thousand pounds.

He would also enter their mobile homes without asking or shout through the letterbox to make them feel scared.

Nevada Smith

“I felt extremely vulnerable and powerless with Nevada's constant harassing and intimidating behaviour, feeling frightened and at times terrified, actually fearing for my life when Nevada had threatened me with his fist under my chin,” said one victim.

“He thought he could come inside my park home uninvited whenever he chose to, banging on my window in anger when the door was locked. I was 72 years of age at the time and suffered such emotional stress, not being able to sleep and feeling constantly on edge.

“It affected me deeply. I felt upset and anxious, completely helpless as I had no control over what was happening.”

Describing his threatening behaviour, another victim said: “Nevada was always mentioning that he knew certain people in Nottingham who we knew to be local thugs and felt this to be a veiled threat. Luckily I knew some of these people too and they actually were not a threat to us.”

Another victim said their home was taken off its plot at the site and dumped – with its contents still inside – in a car park. Another victim had their home smashed up and taken away from the site.

Financial investigators from the East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU) began carrying out enquiries in 2019. “As things progressed, we began to find that intimidating behaviour became a key theme of Smith’s modus operandi,” said investigator Jason Helmn.

“It also became apparent that we were dealing with things on a large scale. When we spoke to victims we found some hadn’t just lost a few hundred or a few thousand pounds. In some cases, it was tens of thousands.”

Smith, 46, of Hogsthorpe Road in Mumby, Lincolnshire, was charged with 16 counts of fraud by false representation, which he admitted when he appeared at Leicester Crown Court on 7 June. The charges related to 14 separate victims.

Today, at the same court, he was sentenced to 91 months’ imprisonment.

Tomlinson, 67, of Mansfield Road in Heanor, Derbyshire, pleaded guilty to one count of fraud by false representation on 10 June. Today he was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment, suspended for 12 months. He must also complete 122 hours of unpaid work.

“Thankfully, all money has been repaid to the victims,” added Jason. “But I hope today’s outcome provides that extra reassurance that justice has finally been done and that they can finally move on with their lives.

“However, this has been a long investigation and sadly some of the victims are no longer here to see such justice.

“At EMSOU we take reports of fraud extremely seriously and I’d urge anyone who has been a victim of such an offence to contact their local police or Action Fraud.”