A 27-YEAR-OLD Blackburn man has pleaded guilty to his part in a nationwide half-million pounds fraud conspiracy.

Blackburn magistrates heard Ashley Black had been dragged into the conspiracy at a time when he was hard-up.

Gareth Price, defending, said his client was as much a victim of the fraud as the small businesses that had been conned out of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

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Black, 27, of Mosley Walk, pleaded guilty to allowing his bank account to be used for the deposits of £1,200 obtained from Susan Ryan, who runs a bed and breakfast, and £3,000 from business owners. obtained from Paul Smith, who runs as a hair and beauty salon. He was bailed for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.

Catherine Allan, prosecuting, said a number of people had been charged with similar offences and others had been charged with conspiracy to defraud and blackmail.

The main players would contact small businesses, making hundreds of phone calls a day, warning that a court judgement had been obtained against them for unpaid tax and urging them to use a phone number to contact the “legal” department.

The victims, who thought they were talking to a solicitor, were then told that if they made an immediate payment into a bank account they could avoid the involvement of the bailiffs and sort things out properly at a later stage.

“The prosecution say this man is one of those who have allowed their bank accounts to be used for receipt of those payments,” said Miss Allan.

Gareth Price, defending, said: despite the size of the overall fraud, it was important to deal with his client purely on the merits of the case against him.“The police could have charged him with conspiracy but they didn’t.” said Mr Price “The totality of his involvement is two transactions. There is no suggestion he has made any phone calls to the companies and no evidence he knew anything about that.”

Black contacted the fraudsters after seeing a notice on a lamp post offering the opportunity to earn extra money. He was promised work and gave his bank details for future payments.

“Shortly after he was contacted and told a payment had been made into his account by mistake and asked to withdraw the money and it would be collected,” said Mr Price. “On both occasions he has handed the money back. He has been foolish and naive but he and others have been used just as much as the small businesses.”

Other bank account holders have been told the money was being paid into their account because a client was going through a divorce and wanted to keep the money away from his wife.