A bible-clutching fraudster will have to repay £707 to a pensioner he scammed for £113,000

Roofer Abey Smith had ripped off the trusting 70-year-old from Teynham and is serving a jail sentence.

Now an investigation under the Proceeds Of Crime Act has revealed that Smith only has a few hundred pounds in a bank account.

A judge at Maidstone Crown Court has ruled that the 50-year-old now has to pay the money to the victim within 28 days or face another two months in jail.

The victim was left “in straitened circumstances” with no money for holidays, to replace his car, or afford dental treatment after the fraud.

Smith, 50, from Longbury Drive, Orpington clutched a Bible in the dock as he had done during his trial in June last year.

He had pleaded not guilty but the jury convicted him of fraud, he was sent to prison for four and a half years.

“This was cynical, heartless and calculated offending...”

Judge David Griffith-Jones QC told him: “You have shown no remorse whatsoever.

“This was cynical, heartless and calculated offending.”

Prosecutor Alexa Le Moine said the POCA investigation had revealed how Smith had benefited by £113,400 from a scam.

The fraud began in 2016 when Smith - who has previous convictions - offered to do some repair work on the victim’s home.

The work Smith had done was to a sub-standard and even had it been done to a satisfactory standard would have cost £3,000, the judge said.

At the trial, prosecutor Ian Foinette told the jury that the victim estimated he had been duped out of £122,000 - Smith claimed only £20,000 had been handed over.

At the time, the judge said he rejected Smith’s claim and said he believed the victim was out of pocket by at least £100,000.

David Lyons, defending, told the court that Smith had now had a “genuine religious conversion” and was a “religious man.”

The judge said Smith had been convicted by the jury on overwhelming evidence he had got a “foothold” after winning the confidence of the victim by offering to clean the gutters.

“You then conscientiously worked him over, reeling him in bit by bit before lying to him saying he needed a new roof.

“He proved gullible but you then cynically and cruelly exploited that vulnerability and then set out to take him for as much money as you could.

“After nearly a year his bank stepped in and the police were called and you were arrested, “ he added.

The prosecution said the cost of the investigation into the fraud has cost £1450.

If you think you’ve uncovered a scam, been targeted by a scam or fallen victim to fraudsters, contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.