Brit bloke learns his destiny after stealing £130k in weird cross-Atlantic ‘tractor rip-off’

A con artist involved in a cross-Atlantic tractor scam worth more than £130,000 has been jailed. Augustin-Paul Ciceu was operating a transport company that was initially contracted to ship a tractor from Europe to Canada in March 2020.

Ciceu, hailing from Dudley, West Midlands, then offered the legitimate Canadian buyer two more tractors for sale and the deal was agreed upon and payment made. The 52-year-old, who referred to himself as Gus during business transactions, claimed he’d wait to send all three tractors together. However, he never shipped any farming equipment to North America and it was reported. Police investigations confirmed they never left the country and Ciceu didn’t even own the tractors he had sold.

The video he sent to the Canadian buyer showed tractors belonging to someone else. Ciceu, of High Street, was found guilty 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 declined to testify in his trial and was sentenced to one year and nine months in prison at Wolverhampton Crown Court last Friday (November 8).

West Midlands Police are now aiming to recover the ill-gotten gains under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA).

DC Ash Forster, 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.”

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