A tea plantation boss has appeared in court accused of scamming some of Britain’s best known hotels as part of a £600,000 fake Scottish tea plot.
Thomas Robinson faces allegations he set up a fraudulent scheme to dupe the Balmoral, the Dorchester and Fortnum and Mason – amongst others – into buying tea he claimed was grown at his plantation in Highland Perthshire.
Prosecutors claim the tea was actually bought from wholesalers and not grown in Scotland.
They say the alleged five-year scam made Robinson around £585,000.
The 52-year-old, of Amulree, near Dunkeld, appeared at Perth Sheriff Court on Thursday and denied two counts of fraud.
He will stand trial in April next year.
Claims of new technology
Robinson is listed on court papers as “AKA Tam O’Braan and Thomas O’Brien”.
The charge states he formed a fraudulent scheme by claiming to grow Camellia Sinensis tea plants in Scotland and using its leaf to make tea products.
It is alleged that, between January 1 2014, and February 28 2019, while trading as The Wee Tea Plantation, he made calls, sent emails and set up meetings with representatives of the Balmoral Hotel, Dorchester Hotel, Ringtons Ltd – acting for Fortnum and Mason – French gourmet tea firm Mariage Frères and the Dunfermline-based Wee Tree Company.
Robinson is accused of pretending to them that he had Scottish tea products that had been grown and processed at his plantation and other sites in Scotland.
It is further alleged he pretended he had learned about agriculture while serving in the Armed Forces and obtained academic qualifications and awards from industry bodies he had not received.
Robinson is also said to have claimed to have sold tea to Kensington Palace – as the charge states – “to support the pretence that you had developed new technology for growing tea in the Scottish climate”.
Prosecutors claim he induced the hotel and company representatives to buy his tea and obtained about £278,634 by fraud.
Robinson faces a second charge that, as part of the scheme, he pretended to 15 people from the Jersey Royal Company that his tea plants were grown in Scotland.
It is alleged he made the same claims about Kensington Palace and the army to them, inducing them to buy his plants and make another £306,504 by fraud.
Solicitor Paul Ralph, defending, tendered a plea of not guilty on his client’s behalf.
Sheriff John MacRitchie set a trial for April 24.
