A “Fantasy” fraudster who conned an elderly woman out of her £22,000 savings after meeting her daughter on a dating app has been jailed for four years.
John Kavanagh, 58, began a relationship with a woman he met online and shortly after starting he claimed to be having financial problems.
Kavanagh told the woman and her 84-year-old mother that he owned a large transport company called ‘Kavanagh QC Transport Limited’, but due to an accident with a javelin missile he had received a fine and was ‘struggling to get to end of the month’. .
After discussing the matter with her mother, who offered to help Kavanagh financially on the understanding that the money would be repaid, the woman gave her £250 and another £1,200 in 18 separate transactions over seven months.
But in June 2020 he was left with less than £250, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
The court was told Kavanagh’s ex-partner and his mother had since died but had given victim impact statements before their deaths in 2022 and 2023.
A statement read in court on the woman’s behalf said: “This incident has left me physically ill.” I can’t explain how I feel inside, I feel very vulnerable and responsible for the money that was taken from my mother. I’m worried about the effect it will have on your health.
He added: “No one has the right to impose themselves on my family and take money in such a deceptive way.”
John Kavanagh, 58, was jailed for four years at Newcastle Crown Court after defrauding an elderly woman of her life savings.
In a statement read on behalf of the woman’s mother, she said: “This incident has left me in shock. I cannot believe I was deceived in this way. I lent John money in good faith with the expectation of getting it back, but left me with nothing.’
The court heard that Kavanagh, who pleaded guilty to one count of fraud, has 32 convictions for 108 offences, 63 of which relate to dishonesty and fraud.
Kavanagh provided a series of excuses for the money, including new truck tyres, staff salaries, insurance payments and money to transport a fictitious truck on a ferry from Saudi Arabia, the court was told.
The court heard the relationship between the defendant and the woman ended in July 2020 when she told him there was no money left. The accused was “unhappy” and distanced himself from the woman and her family.
The woman called the police when she believed Kavanagh, of Abbingdon Square, Cramlington, was a “fantasist” and that her mother might not get her money back.
The woman’s mother gave Kavanagh £22,360 and none of the money was returned, the court heard, while the bank refunded around £3,000 due to the fraudulent activity.
Newcastle Crown Court heard Kavanagh, who pleaded guilty to one count of fraud, has 32 convictions for 108 offences, 63 of them relating to dishonesty and fraud.
The court heard that other family members were also suspicious of the “outlandish” stories he told them. Kavanagh registered the fictitious transport company in March 2020 but it was never operational, the court was told.
His lies were finally exposed about his company “based in Team Valley”, when another company, where he was supposed to be sharing a yard, said they had never heard of the company, the court heard.
The defendant told police he was struggling to return the money but always intended to return it.
The court heard that an investigation revealed the defendant had been in contact with other women he had met on dating websites and told them the same story about owning a transport company.
The court was told Kavanagh was “very sorry” for the victims and their families and “wishes he could turn back the clock”.
Sentencing Kavanagh to four years in prison, Judge Gavin Doig described the defendant as a “completely dishonest man”.
He added: “It is difficult to think of a more shameful crime that a person could commit.”
‘Stripping an 84-year-old woman of her life savings and continuing to take her money over a period of many months until she had nothing left to give, leaving her vulnerable and scared; and yet, that’s what you did.
‘I’m glad to hear that he is now remorseful and remorseful for his behaviour. However, you knew what you were doing at the time and you continued to do it.