THE latest saga in a long, drawn-out fraud trial of a Thurrock businessman was recently played out at Basildon Magistrates' Court – but once again the accused man failed to put in an appearance.

It's 18 months since Thurrock Nub News last reported on the charges against Grays-based Ravindar Singh Dhillon – who had habitually avoided court appointments and went missing from his home whenever checks were made on his whereabouts.

At that time a frustrated chairman of the magistrates' bench issued a warrant to ensure he attended court.

However, when he was recently due to face a litany of charges involving swindling three men out of a total of £111,029.39 at Basildon Magistrates Court, once more he failed to attend.

He faces seven charges of fraud which are:

1. Between 01/09/2022 and 07/10/2022 at a location not stated committed fraud in that you dishonestly made a false representation, namely to Richard Lowery, which was and which you knew was or might be untrue or misleading, namely that the sum of £6,000 would be invested in Cryptocurrency with a guaranteed return of 10% per week for a period of three months., intending to make a gain, namely for yourself or, for another. Contrary to sections 1 and 2 of the Fraud Act 2006.
2. Between 01/04/2020 and 01/10/2020 at a location not stated committed fraud in that you dishonestly made a false representation, namely to Ravinda Kaur Sangha which was and which you knew was or might be untrue or misleading, namely that the sum of £15,000 would be invested in Technology Opportunities Fund for a five year period at a rate of 7% per annum, intending to make a gain, namely for yourself or, for another. Contrary to sections 1 and 2 of the Fraud Act 2006.
3. Between 01/04/2020 and 01/10/2020 at a location not stated committed fraud in that you dishonestly made a false representation, namely to Ravinda Kaur Sangha, which was and which you knew was or might be untrue or misleading, namely that the sum of £20,000 would be invested in Black Rock Cryptocurrency Fund on a one-year fixed income portfolio paying returns of 10.1%, intending to make a gain, namely for yourself or, for another. Contrary to sections 1 and 2 of the Fraud Act 2006.
4. Between 01/04/2020 and 01/10/2020 at a location not stated committed fraud in that you dishonestly made a false representation, namely to Ravinda Kaur Sangha, which was and which you knew was or might be untrue or misleading, namely that the sum of £10,000 would be invested in a one- year ISA Bond with guaranteed returns of 20% per annum, intending to make a gain, namely for yourself or, for another. Contrary to sections 1 and 2 of the Fraud Act 2006
5. Between 01/04/2020 and 01/10/2020 at a location not stated committed fraud in that you dishonestly made a false representation, namely to Ravinda Kaur Sangha, which was and which you knew was or might be untrue or misleading, namely that the sum of £50,000 would be invested in a Property Fund with a guaranteed return of 40% per month, intending to make a gain, namely for yourself or, for another. Contrary to sections 1 and 2 of the Fraud Act 2006.
6. Between 01/07/2022 and 30/10/2022 at a location not stated committed fraud in that you dishonestly made a false representation, namely to Abbas Jaffry, which was and which you knew was or might be untrue or misleading, namely that the sum of £5,029.39 would be invested in cryptocurrency with a guaranteed return of 10 %, intending to make a gain, namely for yourself or, for another. Contrary to sections 1 and 2 of the Fraud Act 2006.
7. Between 01/01/2023 and 30/01/2023 at a location not stated committed fraud in that you dishonestly made a false representation, namely to Abbas Jaffry, which was and which you knew was or might be untrue or misleading, namely that the sum of £5,000.00 would be paid to Abbas Jaffry by the 28th February 2023 and an additional £14,000.00 would be paid to Abbas Jaffry by 28th May 2023, intending to make a gain, namely for yourself or, for another. Contrary to sections 1 and 2 of the Fraud Act 2006.

The cases were adjourned and will next be dealt with at Colchester Magistrates Court on Friday, 27 November at which date the Crown Prosecution Service is expected to produce a report relating to Singh Dhillon which could relate to immigration status, foreign national offending or asylum/border matters, or the views of victims, before a plea hearing proceeds.