Nottingham men jailed for using £3,000 in fake cash to buy games consoles

Two men who used counterfeit cash to buy high-value phones and games consoles from unsuspecting on-line sellers have been jailed.

Christian Clifford, 44, of Millbank Place, Bestwood and Kieron Gordon, 33, of no fixed address, used nearly £3,000 worth of forged notes to complete a series of transactions in 2018.

That was until eagle-eyed officers spotted a Nissan Juke linked to the investigation driving along Woodborough Road in August 2018.

Clifford and Gordon were stopped by police and arrested in connection with multiple reports of using counterfeit cash to buy items from online sellers.

A thorough investigation from the fraud team at Nottinghamshire Police found that the men had been contacting numerous online sellers and offering them cash for high-value electrical items.

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The men would meet the sellers and pay them using the fake money, leaving the seller out of pocket and the buyer with a valuable item for free.

Clifford pleaded guilty to five counts of fraud and Gordon was pleaded guilty to eight counts of fraud at an earlier hearing.

Clifford was sentenced to a year and eight months in prison and Gordon was jailed for two years and eight months at Nottingham Crown Court on Thursday 17 June 2021.

Detective Inspector Ed Cook, who leads the fraud unit at Nottinghamshire Police, said: “This is an excellent result after a brilliant investigation by detectives in the fraud team, the financial investigation unit and support from intelligence analyst’s at Nottinghamshire Police.

“Clifford and Gordon showed no regard for the victims in these incidents, who were duped into giving their expensive items away for free.

“The jail sentences send a clear message to fraudsters – if you commit these crimes, you will be caught and there are consequences to your actions.

“While the result does not give the victims their items back, I hope that it provides some closure for them.

“It is really important that the public are wary of fraudsters and I would recommend reading our website for the latest information on scams and how best to spot them.”