A man involved in a transatlantic tractor scam worth more than £130,000 has been jailed for over one year after his criminal activity was exposed.
Augustin-Paul Ciceu was running a transport firm which was initially approached to ship a tractor from Europe to Canada in March 2020.
Ciceu, from Dudley, West Midlands, then offered the legitimate Canadian purchaser two more tractors for sale and the transaction was agreed and the money was paid.
The 52-year-old – who referred to himself as ‘Gus’ during trade dealings - claimed he’d wait to send all three tractors together.
However, he never sent any farming equipment leaving for North America and it was reported to West Midlands Police.
The force's enquiries established they never left the country and Ciceu didn’t even owned the tractors he had ‘sold.’
The video he sent to the Canadian purchaser showed tractors belonging to someone else, the police said.
Ciceu, of High Street, Dudley, was convicted of theft of the tractor which was never shipped.
He was also convicted of two counts of fraud by false representation in connection with the others he’d sold without owning.
Ciceu refused to give evidence in his trial and was sentenced to a year and nine months imprisonment at Wolverhampton Crown Court on 8 November.
West Midlands Police said it was now looking at retrieving the ill-gotten gains under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA).
DC Ash Forster, who led the investigation, said: “Ciceu took advantage of what should have been a legitimate shipping transaction to trick the trader into purchasing tractors he didn’t even have to sell, and claimed it was a business transaction that was never completed.
“This was a complex investigation and we worked with the victim, who travelled over from Canada for the trial, to build a convincing case.
"We will leave no stone unturned to convict criminals.”
