Wallsend fraudster jailed for £100k recruitment scam

Gary Brewis admitted fraud and money laundering

A man who scammed recruitment agencies of more than £100,000 has been jailed.

Gary Brewis, 41, told three North East firms he was employing workers in the marine construction industry, who then paid fictitious wages.

The Wallsend man admitted fraud and money laundering at Newcastle Crown Court and was jailed for four years and four months.

His ex-partner and a family friend got suspended sentences for getting the money paid into their bank accounts.

'Lies and excuses'

Judge Sarah Mallett said Brewis, of Alwin Close in Wallsend, contacted three "fledgling" recruitment agencies in the autumn of 2020, saying he needed marine floor layers for a contract he had.

He provided details for four workers and asked the agencies to pay their wages, which he would then pay back, but Brewis refused to respond to the invoices.

One firm lost £57,000, another £34,500, and a third £28,000.

When he was challenged by the agencies, he gave "lies and excuses" before becoming angry and making threats to shut his business down.

Brewis was exposed after several sites he was purportedly working at told the agencies they had no record of his workers operating there.

'Nearly killed business'

Judge Mallett said after one agency director asked if he was legitimate, Brewis "laughed at her and told her there were companies worse off than hers".

The judge said Brewis' scam had had a "serious detrimental impact" on each firm.

The director of one said he had lost his life savings, while another claimed Brewis had "nearly killed their business" and left them unable to pay a tax bill.

The judge said the scheme was "dishonest from the outset".

Jacqueline Hellens, with whom Brewis had four children, allowed him to pay £18,000 into her bank account.

Remy Jakk, who was 19 at the time, received £17,000 into his account, of which he kept about 10%, with the rest going to Brewis.

Hellens, 40 and also of Alwin Close, and Remy Jakk, 23 and of Dowling Avenue in Whitley Bay, were each sentenced to five months in prisons, suspended for 18 month, after admitting concealing criminal property.

Brewis also admitted defrauding a builders' merchants of £3,000, by making four purchases from it using the account of a company he had previously worked for.