Builder who defrauded vulnerable people given £150,000 confiscation order

Patrick Young, 59, was jailed for eight years and nine months in 2015 after he admitted multiple charges of fraud along with attempted fraud and extortion.

Over the course of four years Young defrauded 12 victims, many of whom were elderly, out of almost £400,000

A confiscation order for £150,000 was granted at the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday. This will be paid over as compensation to the victims of the fraud.

Young operated a business called Black Diamond Building which targeted vulnerable householders between 2009 and 2013. Young pressured, and in one case threatened, his victims to part with thousands of pounds.

One 79-year-old victim paid £132,000 over two-and-a-half years, for work that was only valued at £58,000.

In another case Young took nearly £173,000 from a 75 year old man for work that was worth £62,000.

Procurator Fiscal for specialist casework, Jennifer Harrower, said: “Young unscrupulously targeted vulnerable and often elderly people and used fraudulent means to line his own pockets with hundreds of thousands of pounds.

“This should serve as a warning to all criminals. We will not stop at prosecution. We will use the laws available to us to ensure money obtained through crime is confiscated from those who do not deserve it and reinvested into the community.”