A businessman has been ordered to pay £8,000 to the Fife hairdresser he illegally sold a shop to.
Simon Spear, 61, was bankrupt and banned from selling his shop to next door neighbour Gillian Maitland.
However, he sold the premises he jointly owned with his wife Valerie Stonehouse prior to him being discharged from his bankruptcy.
Spear, now of Finstown, Orkney, admitted pretending to Ms Maitland that he was able to sell to her the property at 6 Commercial Road, Ladybank.
He admitted that between December 2016 and July 2019 he induced her to pay him £8,000 for a property he did not legally own and thereby obtained £8,000 by fraud.
Banned from selling property
Fiscal depute Calum Gordon told Dundee Sheriff Court: “In April 2014 the accused was sequestrated.
“He was unable to get a bank account and unable to own business premises.
“A court order was in place.
“Ms Maitland was a self-employed hairdresser and rented the property next door.
“She told the accused that she would offer to buy his premises from him.
“There was an ongoing discussion about the property.
“She agreed to buy the premises for £27,000.
“There was an agreement that payments would be made on a monthly basis and title would not pass until it was paid in full.
“At the end of 2018 an ex-member of staff became aware the accused was in bankruptcy and the matter was brought to the attention of Ms Maitland.”
‘Confused’ by status
Solicitor Douglas McAllister, defending, said his client had been “confused” about his status in the wake of the bankruptcy action but accepted his guilt.
Mr McAllister said: “He fully accepts he ought to have known he no longer owned a half-share of the premises and the couple were therefore not in a position to sell.”
Sheriff Jillian Martin-Brown ordered Spear to pay £8,000 compensation to Ms Maitland but imposed no further penalty.
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