FRAUDSTERS who swindled vulnerable farmers out of their life savings in long-running cons - leaving them suffering in silence - have been jailed.

Dennis McGinley, John Maughan and Luke Connors targeted men in rural communities and duped their victims into falsely believing they had become caught up in criminal activity.

McGinley, aged 57, and Maughan, aged 56, each admitted two counts of conspiracy to commit fraud. Connors, aged 39, pleaded guilty to four charges of conspiracy to commit fraud. All three men were jailed at Exeter Crown Court on Friday, November 15. They were brought to justice following a fast-moving and sophisticated investigation by Devon and Cornwall Police as part of Operation Mudskipper. Their crimes occurred near Exeter in Devon, Launceston in Cornwall, and Preston in Lancashire.

McGinley, of Sligo Road, Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, was jailed for five years and seven months. Maughan, of Killyvilly, Enniskillen, was sentenced to five years and three months in prison. Connors, of Marconi Park, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, Ireland, was jailed for three years.

Detective constable Ailsa Mason said: “The group acted in an organised and calculated manner to strip the victims of their savings. They struggled in secret for a number of years.

“The offenders identified vulnerable victims through door-to-door tool sales. From there, they set in play calculated, effective and long-running deceptions of the victims, causing them to hand over large amounts of cash. The victims lost hundreds of thousands of pounds each.

“Following initial entrapment through tool sales, the victims found themselves entwined in fictitious situations where they believed their savings had become caught up in criminal activity. They were led to believe their cash was being used to import illegal cigarettes, drugs and to bribe HMRC officials - none of which was true.

“They were left feeling they could not report the situation without facing prosecution themselves and that they needed to hand over more and more funds if they wanted to see any of their ‘investments’ returned. As time progressed, so did the amounts they were made to hand over. In each case, the victim has been left with no life savings and, on occasions, have had to borrow money from friends and family.”

This series came to light when the family of a farmer from the Exeter area contacted police over fears they were being blackmailed. He eventually told his loved-ones of his long-running ordeal. From this point, further victims were identified by police.

Det Con Mason added: “The victims were initially in denial that there had been any fraud – believing the stories they had been told for many years to be true.

“The offenders led the victims to believe that they were ‘all in it together’ and that they were suffering the same stresses.”

McGinley and Maughan pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation near Exeter between January 1 2015 and January 3 2019.

Connors and Maughan admitted conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation in Preston between January 1 2016 and June 12 2018.

McGinley and Connors pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation in Launceston between January 1 2015 and December 30 2018.

Connors also admitted two further counts of fraud in Wales between November 9 2018 and January 14 2019.

Operation Mudskipper also secured the conviction of James ‘Jimmy’ Connors, aged 44, of Pentregat, Llandysul, Carmarthenshire, West Wales.

He admitted two counts of conspiracy to commit fraud and was sentenced to 20 months in prison at Exeter Crown Court in August. The offences occurred in Wales.

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