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Conman becomes sole trader
Page 8
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Fraudster is out of jail and working as a freight forwarder. Dominic Perry reports.
Exclusive!
A CONMAN WHO was jailed for his part in a scam that left hauliers hundreds of thousands of pounds out of pocket is out of jail and running a new freight forwarding operation.
Jeffrey Lewis was imprisoned for 42 months in December 2001 after being convicted of fraud at Blackfriars Crown Court. He ran a string of freight forwarding firms with his son Michael, ran up huge debts with many CM readers, then pulled the plug on each company when he was chased for the cash.
He was involved with eight company collapses in just five years, including Great Freight, Bell Freight, EU Freight and Federation Freight. But now Lewis has been released from jail and has set up
yet another freight forwarding firm —this time calledTree Freight. Although he was also banned from being a director for 12 years, he is now operating as a sole trader.
However, the Golders Greenbased business has already run into trouble, with one Lancashirebased subcontractor threatening court action to recover a £9,000 debt due from last September.
This firm, which wishes to remain anonymous, says it repeatedly asked Lewis to pay the debt but has met with silence or demands for paperwork, such as invoices or CMR documents, that had already been sent. In fact the Lancashire firm has already won a judgment against Tree Freight but Lewis is asking for this to be overturned, saying
the necessary documentation was not served on him in time and was also addressed to the wrong person, a "John Lewis". The confusion stems from paperwork which omits Jeff Lewis's full name. Lewis says he is also fighting the court action, claiming he is withholding the money because the work was not done properly
— something denied by the Lancashire firm.
Lewis promises there will be no repeat of his previous firms' problems:"This time Jam doing it right and paying everybody."
Despite his protests about the quality of the work he is willing to negotiate payment to avoid court action.