Facebook furnishings fraudster jailed after ripping off customers for thousands of pounds

Ryan Burns, 32, from Rotherham, advertised custom-made wooden furniture for sale on his business Facebook page but although the orders poured in, deliveries suddenly dried up and customers were "left in the lurch”, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Deborah Graham said many customers didn’t receive their goods at all and those who did, received “faulty” furniture which was not fit for purpose.

At one stage, the conman, who ran Bespoke/Rustic Furnishings, had over £200,000 of his customers’ cash running through various bank accounts he had set up through a third party as his clients were left high and dry.

Burns, a father-of-four who had debts at the time, spent some of his ill-gotten gains on luxury holidays and toys while his hapless victims desperately sought to retrieve their cash and the goods they had purchased, but never received.

He was brought in for questioning after banks became suspicious and Trading Standards launched an investigation. He was charged with, and admitted, money laundering and running a fraudulent business.

He appeared for sentence last Thursday after pleading guilty to the offences, which occurred between August 2020 and July 2022, on the basis that, ultimately, he had defrauded his customers out of £14,544 because of repayments to most victims.

He was sentenced to 12 months in prison.

Ms Graham said that Burns, of St Mary’s Road, Rawmarsh, was essentially a sole trader who ran the online business under his own steam and changed its name from Bespoke Furnishings to Rustic Furnishings in May 2021.

The company’s Facebook page featured photos of furniture-for-sale which the company “claimed to make” and which would appear on customers’ Facebook feeds when they were searching for home furnishings.

Orders would be made directly to Burns or a third party via Facebook Messenger, with the average order being for goods worth £500. Burns would provide customers with an invoice and the company’s details, with the promise that goods would be delivered within two-to-four weeks.

“In some instances, the invoices that were provided were false and a fake business address was used,” said Ms Graham.

Orders would be placed and money transferred to Burns’ accounts, but then he would break off contact with customers and block them on Facebook. When they did manage to get through to him, he fobbed them off with a “series of lies” including that he was unable to source raw materials, “personal and family illness”, claims that he had had money stolen, problems with his courier and “issues with his bank account” and mental health.

He also lied to customers that his suppliers “had gone bust” and tried to hoodwink others by claiming that one of his accounts had been frozen. There were numerous attempts to contact Burns to retrieve missing goods “over periods of weeks or months”, but most customers simply gave up.

Meanwhile, Burns, described as a family man with a long-term partner, continued trading despite the closure of the bank account he had used to take payments. His bank become suspicious about the huge amounts flooding into the account, but he simply set up new accounts with other banks which also became wary of his activities.

In total, he used ten different accounts and six related PayPal accounts which were either in his name or that of a third party.

“There was evidence of luxury expenditure on holidays and toys and multiple cash withdrawals from PayPal accounts,” added Ms Graham.

Customers who were not reimbursed and who couldn’t get in touch with Burns had to revert to leaving poor reviews on the business Facebook page, but then the comments section of the web page was disabled.

Enquiries also revealed that the business had not paid any tax on the many payments for largely undelivered or faulty goods.

“In just less than two years (since the fraud began), 103 complaints were made by consumers to their banks and the police and the Citizens’ Advice consumer helpline regarding Mr Burns’ company,” said Ms Graham.

Due to the scale of the fraud and the sheer number of victims from far and wide, the national Trading Standards body ran its own investigation alongside that of the Rotherham trade watchdog. The probe revealed that customers had transferred just under £55,000 into bank accounts held by, or connected to, Burns.

The accounts showed that over £238,000 of orders had been received by the business from 748 customers, although 325 victims had received refunds totalling just over £78,000. Some were never refunded, but the prosecution ultimately accepted that the final total loss to those 31 victims was £14,544.

After being called in for questioning by police in May 2021, brazen Burns continued to trade, scam victims and use a bogus business address.

Ms Graham said that victims suffered a “range of emotions” including “anger, distress, anxiety, shame, frustration, embarrassment, disappointment and despair”.

Despite the enormity of Burns’ crimes, the prosecution asked only for total compensation of £11,876 because some of the victims had since been recompensed by their banks.

Defence barrister Benjamin Ramsey said that Burns’ erstwhile business had had some “positive reviews on Facebook for products…received by customers”. Others who didn’t receive purchased goods got full refunds from Burns.

Judge Simon Hickey said he was prepared to sentence Burns on the basis that out of the hundreds of people who had been swindled, only 23 had not been recompensed.

He accepted that Burns was genuinely remorseful for “the misery you have inflicted on numerous victims”, but this was outweighed by the devastating effect on his many duped customers.

Burns was jailed for 12 months but no compensation was ordered as the judge said this was a matter for the civil courts.

Lord Michael Bichard, chair of National Trading Standards, said: "Stealing from people looking to improve their homes while pandemic restrictions forced them to stay indoors shows that Burns had a callous disregard for his victims, inflicting additional distress during an already turbulent time.

“This sentence sends a strong message that fraud does not go unpunished, and I congratulate all those involved in bringing Burns to justice and preventing him from targeting anyone else.”

Ruth Andrews, regional investigations manager for the Yorkshire and Humber at City of York Council, said: “Many consumers lost significant sums of money to this fraud, which was committed when many people were feeling particularly vulnerable during the pandemic. The actions of

Burns, including failing to refund disappointed customers and his behaviour in response to their complaints, was completely unacceptable and deliberate, and has been reflected in his sentencing today. I’m grateful to our persistent and hardworking team of investigators here in York and in Rotherham.”