Seven men who stole 46 construction machines valued in excess of £1m sentenced
and live on Freeview channel 276
Max Wynn, 34, Richard Wynn, 47, Karl Langley, 44, Alex Grice, 33, Craig Douglas, 41, Gavin Mellor, 53, and Ian Mellor, 72, have been sentenced for their involvement.
The machines which ranged from 1 tonne dumper trucks to 22 tonne excavators, valued between under £10k and over £100k, were stolen across the North West and throughout the UK.
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Hide AdThere are a number of companies who had more than one machine stolen from them.
The vast majority of the machines were “cloned” before being sold on.
In September 2017, Lancashire Police executed a search warrant at a Max Wynn’s rented unit on Lomeshaye Industrial Estate in Nelson.
A Kubota digger belonging to an equipment hire company in Blackpool, and a Kubota mini excavator were seized along with genuine and cloned PINs, grinding equipment, sanding pads, stencils and stamping equipment.
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Hide AdThe same day, police attended another unit in Clayton-le-Moors where they seized three more stolen machines.
As the investigation unfolded, evidence relating to 41 more machines was gathered.
How was each man involved in the conspiracy?
Max Wynn and Alex Grice were the directors of a sham business that received stolen machines which were cloned before they were sold on to innocent purchasers.
Max Wynn rented a unit where machines were cloned and did some of the cloning himself.
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Hide AdHe negotiated with purchasers, advertised the machines, arranged for their delivery and employed people to help him in the handling process, including transporting stolen machines and carrying out the cloning work.
Max Wynn laundered the proceeds by transferring money to family, friends and associates, spending it on himself and withdrawing cash to make further purchases.
He also had the leading role in the money laundering conspiracy involving Gavin and Ian Mellor, in hiding the illegitimate nature of his business and extracting clean cash for the purchase of further stolen machines.
After his unit was raided, he found an alternative way to sell more stolen machines by shipping them to an auction company in Zaragoza, Spain, for them to sell on.
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Hide AdRichard Wynn, Max’s brother, was hands-on with the machines, transporting them and delivering them to purchasers.
Alex Grice was a highly trusted employee of Max Wynn, carrying out a variety of jobs, including the mechanical cloning of machines; he received a fee or commission for each machine with which he was involved.
Gavin Mellor acted as Max Wynn’s accountant, assisting him with the purchase of the companies that were to be used to sell the stolen machines.
Ian Mellor sold a company to Max Wynn assisting him with the legitimisation of his handling operation.
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Hide AdWith his son, Gavin, acting as a middleman, he knowingly laundered money from stolen machines to provide Max Wynn with cash to make further purchases.
Craig Douglas was involved with one machine worth approximately £80,000.
Karl Langley was closely connected to Max Wynn and his unit and involved in handling three stolen machines valued over £50,000.