The cruel swindler who ruined a blind piano tuner

A cruel conman conned a blind piano tuner out of £185,000 in a scam that lasted years. Mark Stanner, 42, used a Manchester call center company as a front and bombarded the vulnerable victim with phone calls, texts and emails, police said as he was jailed.

The man, who is in his 50s and has been blind since birth, was told by Stanner that he owed money to publications for advertising for piano tuning.

Greater Manchester Police said the demands began in 2017 and were for “small” amounts at first, but “became progressively more aggressive and frequent”. The force said the victim, who has not been named, paid the initial demands, asking Stanner to leave him alone if he handed over the sums.

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But other demands followed, and police said the man had to borrow money from friends and family. He even had to buy specialized Braille software to read a string of fake bills Stanner had created.

A GMP spokesman said he had also been threatened. The force said in a statement: “In some cases, Stanner left the victim with half an hour to pay his demands, such as asking him to pay £4,000 in an hour, and threatened to he will come and take property if he has not met the requirements.”

Detectives from GMP’s Economic Crime Unit discovered the fraud and built a case against the fraudster.

Stanner, of Brocklehurst Avenue, Macclesfield, has now been jailed for five-and-a-half years after being found guilty of conspiracy to defraud at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester.

His sister Martina Turner, 43, of Sunnyside Road, Droylsden, Tameside, allowed £31,000 of the victim’s money to pass through her account to cover up her brother Stanner’s crimes, police said. She too was convicted and given an 18-month suspended sentence, along with 200 hours of unpaid work.

Marvin Scott, 40, of Charlestown Road, Moston, north Manchester, was also convicted after allowing £48,000 to pass through his bank accounts to hide Stanner’s finances. Scott was jailed for 31 months.

Detective Constable Michelle Wilkinson, from GMP’s economic crime team, said: “Stanner showed no remorse throughout our investigation and actively sought to hide his finances by enlisting the help of Turner and Scott, who kept money in the accounts their for Stanner.

“Unfortunately, this case demonstrates how easy it is for people to fall prey to scams, especially when they are convincing. The victim was vulnerable and Stanner took advantage of that. I hope he spends his time in prison thinking about the consequences of his actions. .

“We would like to use this opportunity to provide crime prevention advice to people in Greater Manchester – we want to equip our communities with advice on how to reduce the chances of falling victim to fraud.

“Beware of unexpected contact from unknown companies asking for your money. Chances are this is fraudulent.

“In such cases it is common for there to be no written invoice before payment, just a demand for money with little or no explanation as to why it is to be paid. Scammers will often say that payment is urgent and will accompany the request for money with immediate threats of bailiffs and debt collectors, putting pressure on victims to part with their money.”