A 52-YEAR-OLD former Ludlow man has been formally cleared by a court of being part of a £2 million international scam.
David Usher, formerly of Pepper Lane and Market Street in Ludlow, had faced a possible retrial after a jury at Worcester Crown Court failed to reach a verdict in his case on a charge of conspiracy to defraud last year.
But the Crown Prosecution Service at a recent hearing offered no evidence against Mr Usher and Judge Alistair McCreath recorded a formal not guilty verdict.
Mr Usher was one of four men who had denied being involved in a conspiracy between March, 2003 and March, 2004.
Charles Frisby, 65, Douglas Miller, 50, and John Roope, 52, were all convicted and jailed. Two other men, Peter Roope, 52, and Gareth Matthews, 52, said to be the ringleaders, were also jailed after pleading guilty to their part in the massive fraud.
During a 10-week trial which ended in December court had heard that a bogus company – Prudential Commercial Investments – was set up in March 2003 to fleece unsuspecting investors.
The fraud targeted dozens of UK citizens, living and working around the world and they lost almost £2 million altogether. Mr Usher admitted that he had opened and run offices for PCI in Bewdley and later at The Case Mill in Ludlow but he told the jury he believed PCI was a genuine business.