A fraudster who took money from people who believed they were buying cars has been jailed.
James Shoobert told victims he knew ways of getting them vehicles at reduced prices due to his work as a car salesman in Canterbury. Between March and August 2022, he told five different people, who were known to him, that he would help them get a car at a cheaper-than-usual price.
In total, the five victims paid him more than £60,000 in the belief they would get a vehicle, but they did not receive any car or get their money back.
The offences were reported to Kent Police later the same year and Shoobert was charged with multiple counts of fraud the following year. After admitting the offences at Canterbury Crown Court, the 39-year-old, of Scarborough, North Yorkshire, was jailed for two years and four months on Monday 4 March 2024.
PC Aimee Gossett, Kent Police’s investigating officer, said:
‘Shoobert lied to his victims so that he could defraud them out of considerable amounts of money.
‘Kent Police takes reports of fraud very seriously and will always work to bring those behind such offences to justice and attempt to recover losses for victims.’