Cars for Stars News

One of the victim’s of Mark Shortland, who was jailed in September for offering fake chauffeur jobs, is now at risk of losing his home after he quit his job to take up the new position offered by the conman.

Ian Fawsitt from Gotham, Nottinghamshire, fell victim to the scam after applying for a job he saw advertised on the Directgov website in April. After attending an interview in May, Mr Fawsitt was offered the position of chauffeur with Mark Shortland.

Having been made an offer of work, Fawsitt handed in his notice at the chemical cleaning company where he was employed at the time. Fawsitt also handed over £100 to the Shortland which he was told was a deposit for the keys to the luxury BMW he would be using to chauffeur high profile names such as Simon Cowell.

After the start date for Fawsitt’s his new job came and went and he was unable to get in touch with Shortland, he decided to contact police. It was at this point he realised he’d been duped into quitting his job, and he was among 30 other people who’d also been caught out by the scam.

The news couldn’t have come at a worse time as Mr Fawsitt’s wife is about to give birth to the couple’s first child. Now Fawsitt is left jobless, and says he’s lost thousands of pounds, his car, and to top it all he’s now facing the prospect of losing his home.

43-year-old conman Mark Shortland made £100,000 from his victims by offering fake chauffeur jobs. He was convicted at Sheffield Crown Court after admitting six charges of theft, three counts of fraud, and one charge of obtaining services by deception. Shortland is now serving a three year jail sentence for his crimes.