Jimmy Lee, director of Myint Construction Ltd., was prosecuted for fraud and deception after a three-year investigation by Trading Standards officers.

Lee pleaded not guilty to two counts of fraudulent trading but after a three-week trial he was found guilty of all charges before him.

At Southwark Crown Court Lee was sentenced to four years in prison and disqualified from being a company director for eight years.

The court heard Lee defrauded his client after undertaking a building contract through deception by fabricating references and issuing false invoices. He provided misleading information about timeframes and delays, leaving the property in disrepair and unfinished.

In February 2018 Lee was hired by the client to undertake a £700,000 refurbishment contract for a private property in South Kensington. The client entered into a contract with the builder after being given fraudulent references and a site visit to a property where he had not in fact worked.

The builder received payments from the client for the purpose of paying subcontractors into his personal account, which he had misrepresented as a business account.

He spent a substantial portion of that money in casinos instead of paying subcontractors and submitted fraudulent invoices to the client.

Lee’s failure to sufficiently supervise the works led to defective and non-compliant installations leaving the property in disrepair and the works not completed.

In January 2020, the Council’s Trading Standards team were made aware of Lee’s conduct and deceptive trading practices. Officers acted on it and successfully investigated the case to uncover his criminal activity.

The Trading Standards team will now be considering any proceeds of crime obtained as a result of Lee’s criminality.