Bodybuilding conman who bullied pensioners into paying for bogus energy deals in £270,000 cold call scam is ordered to repay just £28,000
Scammer David Govier only had a small portion of the money he scammed out of elderly victims left to repay
A COLD call conman who bullied pensioners into paying for fake energy assessments has been ordered to pay back just £28k of the £270,000 he stole.
Champion bodybuilder David Govier used his company based in Swansea, dubbed the cold-call capital of Britain, to target older people for bogus "green energy" assessments claiming to cut their
household bills.
But after repaying £23,000 of the swindled cash, the fraudster only had another £28k left to give back to his victims.
A court heard potential customers were falsely told any efficiency improvements would be paid for by the Government under their "The Green Deal" scheme.
But clients of fraudulent Get Green Today Ltd were hit with a £478 bill for an assessment Govier wasn't licensed to carry out - and one that assessors never turned up for.
The amateur body-builder, from Loughor, near Swansea, pleaded guilty to making £270,000 from the scam in November and was jailed for a year.
Prosecutor Katie Symonds told the court: "He pretended to be working with the green deal scheme to make energy savings for people's homes.
"He failed to tell customers an assessment was financed by a secure loan - and told them all research was free.
"When customers called up to try and cancel their contracts they were unable to do so."
Govier - who competed at the UKBFF Wales body-building championships - made one pensioner "break down in tears" over the phone after trying to get her to sign up with her personal details.
The schemer even managed to charge clients in Northern Ireland - despite them not being covered by the UK Government scheme.
Govier was ordered to pay back the £28,028 he has in assets at Newport Crown Court after an investigation into his finances, including the sale of his BMW.
He had already paid back £23,000 and was given three months to pay the rest.
Govier is now out on parole after serving half his sentence. His Honour Judge Geraint Walters ordered Govier to repay the cash or face being brought back to court.