£25,000 fraudsters used fake cheques to buy dogs and cars

A pair of fraudsters who roamed Scotland buying cars and pedigree dogs with phony cheques in a £25,000 fraud are now behind bars.

Ronald Saunders, 57, of Balmoral Gardens, Dundee, and William Stewart, 54, a prisoner at HMP Perth, used cheques from Mr Stewart’s brother’s chequebook to buy a succession of vehicles before Stewart then handed over a £800 cheque to buy a chihuahua.

But the cheques all bounced, leaving the owners between £750 and £7,000 out of pocket.

Dundee Sheriff Court heard the pair’s scam traversed a number of areas including Forfar, Dundee, St Andrews and Kinross.

The pair pleaded guilty on indictment to charges of forming a fraudulent scheme.

Saunders was jailed for 20 months and Stewart for 34 months.