Dudley fraudster jailed over transatlantic tractor scam which saw him pocket £130k

A Dudley fraudster has been jailed after he carried out a transatlantic tractor scam which saw him pocket £130,000. Augustin-Paul Ciceu was running a transport firm which was approached to ship a tractor from Europe to Canada in March 2020.

Ciceu, 52, offered the legitimate Canadian purchaser two more tractors for sale. The transaction was agreed and the money was paid.

Ciceu, who referred to himself as ‘Gus’ during trade dealings, claimed he would wait to send all three tractors together. But detectives began investigating when Ciceu failed to send any of the farming equipment overseas.

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Police established that Ciceu didn’t even own the tractors he had ‘sold.’ The video he sent to the Canadian purchaser showed tractors belonging to someone else.

Ciceu, of High Street, Dudley, was convicted of theft of the tractor which was never shipped. He was also convicted of two counts of fraud by false representation in connection with the others he’d sold without owning.

Ciceu refused to give evidence in his trial and was sentenced to a year and nine months behind bars at Wolverhampton Crown Court last Friday, November 8. DC Ash Forster of West Midlands Police, who led the investigation, said: “Ciceu took advantage of what should have been a legitimate shipping transaction to trick the trader into purchasing tractors he didn’t even have to sell, and claimed it was a business transaction that was never completed.

"This was a complex investigation and we worked with the victim, who travelled over from Canada for the trial, to build a convincing case. We will leave no stone unturned to convict criminals.”