Teesside man jailed for fraud after falsely selling cars during lockdown

A man has been jailed for falsely advertising cars on eBay during the pandemic.

Simon Retallick was sentenced at Teesside Crown Court on Monday 25 March, after more than 17 offences were charged against him by Cleveland Police.

Retallick was found guilty of multiple counts of fraud and perverting the course of justice.

Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council also brought 40 criminal charges against him following a Trading Standards investigation.

Retallick targeted 37 victims, mainly in the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown by falsely advertising the sale of vehicles on the online selling site eBay.

Victims were scammed out of over £100,000 in total and were left with no vehicle.

Retallick would advertise vehicles, which people were unable to view because of lockdown, and then take money via bank transfer. He spent months making excuses about why their vehicle had not been delivered.

Each report was logged by the victims with Action Fraud and the Citizens Advice Consumer Service.

The reports were then passed to Cleveland Police and Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council’s Trading Standards team for investigation.

DC Dimelow said: “Simon Retallick is a serial fraudster who targeted and took advantage of victims across the UK. This investigation has been particularly challenging and complex due to multiple victims around the country, and it has taken almost a year to work through the high volume of evidence to ensure Retallick was charged.“Evidence included working through text messages, phone calls, eBay messages, bank statements and anything else which involved communication between the victims and Retallick. This amounted to 20 case files of evidence."

DI Kirtley added: “The officer investigating this case has done a fantastic job and dedicated a huge amount of time to ensure Retallick would be brought to justice.

“Retallick has caused nothing but misery to many victims and his actions have had a detrimental impact on their personal relationships, businesses, and financial situations.

“He has shown zero remorse for the crimes he has committed and given no mitigation for his actions, but thankfully he has now been brought to justice and will now how have plenty of time to think about his crimes in prison.”

A Criminal Behaviour Order was also given to Retallick at court, which bans him from selling vehicles for eight years.

A spokesperson for Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council said: “Mr Retallick’s actions caused a great deal of worry and grief for many of his customers, leaving them out of pocket and without the vehicles they paid for.

“Using lockdown restrictions to his advantage, he deceived his victims for many months. Rightfully he has been punished for that by the courts.

“Mr Retallick’s dishonest way of operating his business is inexcusable and I would like to thank our Trading Standards officers and the Police for their tireless efforts to bring him to justice. I hope this sentence brings some comfort to his victims and sends a clear message that we will not tolerate fraudulent business owners in our Borough.”

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