Ellesmere fraudster's hotel bid failed over bounced cheque

Christopher Peach's attempt to buy the hotel failed when his own cheque to solicitors bounced, the CPS said

A man who tried to buy a hotel through a cheque fraud scheme has been jailed for five years.

Christopher Peach was the manager at the time of the Black Lion in Ellesmere, Shropshire, the Crown Prosecution (CPS) said.

He defrauded firms by using invalid cheques but his attempt to buy the hotel failed when his own cheque to solicitors bounced.

Peach, 51, made a plea agreement on his charges, the CPS said.

The agreement came before he was charged with 18 counts of fraud and one of money laundering.

He was jailed at Shrewsbury Crown Court on Monday for the offences which occurred between October 2016 and November 2019.

Peach admitted submitting a large number of cheques to stockbrokers and investment and money transfer firms, the CPS said.

But they were invalid as they were drawn from accounts which were closed or ones without sufficient funds.

The 51-year-old, from Ellesmere, then claimed a refund or carried out further transactions before the cheques were rejected unpaid.

Peach lied repeatedly about the source of his supposed funds, at one stage claiming to be a successful author, and he also forced supporting documents, the CPS added.

'Manipulated victims'

With the nearly £2m funds raised from his fraud, he tried to buy the Black Lion and told various solicitors to carry out the conveyancing before his cheque bounced.

In 2014, Peach had been made the subject of a 10-year bankruptcy restrictions order which prevented a range of financial actions.

But he changed his name by deed poll to Christopher Hill in 2015 which avoided checks and allowed him to commit all but one of his offences in that name, prosecutors added.

Hannah Carter, from the CPS, said he was a prolific fraudster with no regard for the law.

"Peach's victims were manipulated with a series of lies and the fact that he targeted institutions does not lessen the seriousness of his crimes," she said.

Plea agreement laws could be used in cases of complex fraud to let prosecutors discuss an allegation of serious fraud or an agreement about pleas with a suspect before charges were brought, the CPS said.

Det Con James Lees, from West Mercia Police added: "He showed no regard for the significant loss and impact he has had caused to his victims."