A Perth businessman accused of conning customers out of thousands of pounds has been acquitted of all charges.
After hearing hours of evidence, a sheriff concluded The Crown had failed to adequately link Roger Wallace to the crimes.
The former toy shop boss had faced allegations that he was behind an online motorcycle scam that saw people tricked into paying nearly £15,000 for vehicles they never received.
Detectives mounted a probe into the 30-year-old’s dealings after receiving complaints from 11 disgruntled customers south of the border.
They conducted two separate investigations into complaints about Algo Business Support Ltd — the company Wallace was said to be operating — between August and December 2012.
Wallace, of High Street in Auchterarder, subsequently faced charges alleging he pretended to customers that he was running a bona-fide website, offered customers vehicles including Vespa scooters, induced them to make payments and obtained money by fraud.
He denied all charges and has now been found not guilty of all the offences following a trial at Perth Sheriff Court.
Sheriff Gillian Wade said The Crown had failed to adequately prove he was responsible for masterminding the fraud.
The sheriff said that while it was accepted adverts had been placed by the company, no evidence had been presented that directly linked Wallace to the adverts or any subsequent transactions.
She also said there was also “no direct evidence” to suggest he had benefited from any of the transactions.
Sheriff Wade told prosecutors that while it may have “looked a bit suspicious” that sums equal to that lost by some complainers appeared in Wallace’s bank account shortly thereafter, that suspicion was not enough to conclude he had placed the adverts, nor that he had obtained sums through fraud.
