A fraudster family made £1.7 million selling off antiques they pilfered from an elderly woman.
The victim, who is now in her 90s, was ‘preyed’ upon by her gardener Des Pickersgill, 83, along with his son Gary and daughter-in-law Sarah.
An investigation into a burglary at the woman’s home in September 2017 led detectives to discover dozens of valuable jade and ivory ornaments were missing and had been taken over a period of six years.
It was later found the family of thieves, who lived 100 metres away from the victim, had used the proceeds of the loot to create a lavish lifestyle for themselves.
They went from the brink of eviction to buying a luxury home in Lincolnshire, complete with swimming pool, paddocks and one and a half acres of land.
An antiques expert brought in by the insurance company involved in the claim spotted items that appeared in a family’s photograph album had actually been sold at the prestigious Bonhams of London auctioneers in November 2013, November 2014 and June 2015.
Among the items was an exceedingly rare pale green jade teapot, which sold for £527,000 at an auction in Hong Kong.
Two further extremely rare items of jade had also been sold: a cup and cover which sold for around £127,000, and a jade bird box which sold for £7,000.
Police inquiries with Bonhams found two auction accounts had sold more than 40 items of antique oriental jade, ivory and bronze from November 2011 to May 2017, totalling some £1.7 million.
One of these belonged to Des Pickersgill while the other belonged to his son Gary, with the majority of the money being paid into the 42-year-old’s bank account who then transferred it to his 40-year-old wife.
Despite raking in the cash from the stolen antiques, the three of them had a taxable income of around £13,000, with the elder Pickersgill relying on his state pension.
In July 2018, search warrants at addresses in Wilstead and Skegness recovered pendants and ornaments from both addresses, which were identified by the victim’s family.
During a police interview, Des Pickersgill confirmed he had done gardening work for the victim, but claimed he had received small pots and ornaments as gifts on several occasions.
Text messages found on Gary Pickersgill’s phone showed he had been discussing the auction of more items with Kevin and Tracey Wigmore, who lived near his home in Skegness.
Kevin Wigmore had set up an account at Bonhams and sold three items for more than £60,000.
Family members of the victim again identified these items as coming from their jade collection.
A receipt recovered from the Wigmores’ address showed Gary Pickersgill had sold the couple the items.
On Monday, all five were found guilty of fraud and converting criminal property. They are due to be sentenced in August.
Investigating officer Dave Brecknock said: ‘I have no doubt that Des and Gary Pickersgill hatched a plan to prey on an elderly and vulnerable victim, steal these precious artefacts and make themselves a small fortune.
‘This was a pre-meditated, sly and dastardly criminal conspiracy which has caused untold worry to the victim and her family, for who I am delighted we have been able to secure some justice.
‘Those behind schemes like this may think they are very clever, but this case demonstrates a clear message: we are smarter, and we will catch you.’
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