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Andrew Feinberg
White House Correspondent
A building surveyor who swindled the National Trust out of more than £1 million through false invoices has been jailed along with his son.
The judge told Roger Bryant, 73, that he actively abused his position and that his sons were consciously complicit, after 148 payments totalling £1,125,304.86 were made to two bank accounts controlled by the 73-year-old.
Bryant, of Barnstaple, was sentenced to six and a half years imprisonment at Bristol Crown Court on Friday, following his conviction for 28 offences after a lengthy trial at the same court.
His sons James Bryant, 49, and Scott Bryant, 38, both of Barnstaple, were also found guilty of two charges in relation to them knowing – or at least suspecting – the money generated for their own companies by their father was the proceeds of crime.
Appearing in court alongside their father, James Bryant was sentenced to four years imprisonment and Scott Bryant was handed two years suspended for 18 months.
Passing sentence, His Honour Judge Burgess KC described Roger Bryant’s criminality as “audacious and protracted”.
The judge said he had a position of considerable trust within The Trust and was responsible for a budget of more than half a million per year while he was employed by the charity as a building surveyor.
During the almost three-month trial, a jury was told he fraudulently submitted invoices to the organisation for building work that was either partially or wholly not completed on its properties. If some work did take place, it had not been specified on the schedule and was not of the standard expected.
Between January 2008 and October 2013, the National Trust believed it was paying two companies for work that had been completed, JR Contracting and SB Construction.
During this time period, the Trust made 112 payments totalling £1,061,096.29 in respect of invoices from JR Contracting.
Between February 2011 and October 2013, the Trust made 36 payments totalling £64,208.57 after invoices from SB Construction.
The payments were made to one of two bank accounts, both controlled by James Bryant.
The fraud was discovered during a meeting in October 2013, when JR Contracting was identified as the biggest supplier to the Trust in the Arlington and North Devon area – but the general managers had not heard of the company.
When confronted, Roger Bryant said that JR Contracting existed and had done the work.
Following the discovery of the fraud, Roger Bryant attempted to pervert the course of justice by asking two people to lie by saying they had witnessed works take place at various locations.
In a separate fraud against the National Trust in 2013, Roger Bryant submitted invoices in relation to a real contractor for work supposedly carried out on the charity’s properties when the work had in fact been carried out on his own property.
Following the sentencing, Detective Inspector Adam Bond said: “The sentences passed today by His Honour Judge Burgess KC reflect the severity of this fraud, especially when considered the victim is a much-loved and respected charitable organisation responsible for much of the country’s building and countryside heritage.”
The National Trust said: “We trust our staff to do their jobs efficiently and honestly which is vitally important to an organisation responsible for looking after many different places in such a wide geographical area.
“We have all been very shocked at the crimes committed by a trusted of member of staff.
“We are immensely grateful for the diligence of the teams involved in this legal process who include, former and current National Trust staff, National Trust tenants, contractors, suppliers and especially Devon and Cornwall Police, whom without such perseverance would not have seen these crimes brought to justice.”