Welshpool consultant faces £1m fraud case
A 76-year-old tax consultant has appeared in court charged with defrauding his clients out of more than £1.3million.
David Vaughan Jones, from Leighton, Welshpool, appeared at Welshpool Magistrates Court yesterday charged with 31 fraud-related offences.
Dressed in a suit and tie, Jones spoke only to confirm his name and declare that he was not going to enter a plea.
The charges claim he took money from 14 different people, some of which related to the distribution of estates following a death, and £100,000 of which should have been given to charities as well as to the deceased's next of kin.
Many of the charges are of obtaining money by deception, where it is claimed Jones said he would invest large amounts of money in high interest offshore accounts but instead took the money for himself.
In total, he is accused of stealing £1,337,158.23 from his clients.
Jones also faces charges of forgery and of intimidating a witness.
Magistrates committed the case to Mold Crown Court on August 21.
