Ed Rimmer jailed for 30 months
Challenger Syndicateships went bust in 2008 – photo: Waterway Images
FRAUD: Charles Edward Rimmer, aka Ed Rimmer, of Challenger Syndicateships was sentenced to 30 months in jail at Worcester Crown Court on 9 September for 18 counts of fraud amounting to £536,000.
The judge described the crimes as “a planned and sophisticated form of fraud over a considerable time”.
The offences took place between 2003 and 2008 and were carried out by Challenger Syndicateships, and Challenger Syndicateships Ltd, both companies owned by Mr Rimmer and his late wife Gill. The offences included misappropriation of funds from shared ownership syndicates and multiple selling of sponsored narrowboats to more than one party, with amounts ranging from £20,000 to £95,000.
The judge described the offences as an abuse of the confidence and trust people had placed in Mr Rimmer, a former member of the National Boat Shows (NBS) board, with many of the victims knowing him for many years.
With several of the owners being retired, the lost funds represent a major portion of their income. As a result of their losses some had to remortgage their houses and had suffered depression and devastation.
The original claims from over 20 parties after the companies went into administration in 2008 amounted to more than £1.5m, but the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided to prosecute on the basis of only the proportion of them necessary to achieve a custodial sentence, with another 17 charges brought against Mr Rimmer left to lie on file.
The CPS will also apply for a confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act, which will enable it to pursue any assets or funds that Mr Rimmer may acquire or that may be discovered in the future.
The failure of Challenger followed the earlier failure of Mr Rimmer’s previous company, Black Prince Narrowboats, which went into administration in 1987, subsequently being successfully relaunched and renamed under new management.
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