This release is published on behalf of the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU).
Detectives investigating a suspected multi-million pound rogue trader scheme have this morning, Tuesday 20 September, arrested three people in East Hampshire.
In multi-agency Operation Orion, led by the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU), four residential addresses, one at Fern Farm, off Longmoor Road in Greatham, and three houses in nearby Royal Drive, Bordon, were entered at 8am and searches began of the buildings and of adjacent land at Fern Farm.
Three people, two men aged 45 and 24, and a woman aged 46, were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit fraud, and have been detained for interview by SEROCU officers at police stations in Hampshire.
The 46-year old man and the woman were arrested at one of the Royal Drive addresses and the 24-year old man was arrested at the Fern Farm property.
SEROCU officers have been following up allegations that house owners in North East Hampshire and Surrey have paid hundreds of thousands of pounds for renovations and rebuilding that has not been completed.
Already more than £1 million is believed to have been obtained by fraud. Homes so far reported to have been involved are in Banstead, Thursley, Chiddingfold, Tadworth, and Chertsey in Surrey, and Farnborough and Greyshott in Hampshire.
Sussex Police Specialist Search Unit officers have been searching water on the Fern Farm property, and computer and paper records have been seized at all the addresses.
Neighbourhood Watch volunteers from West Sussex and a police fixed wing aircraft have been helping to search other open areas at Fern Farm. The open area searches are focussed on finding any property which may have been stolen.
Detective Chief Inspector Paul Rymarz of SEROCU said; "This is a complex investigation which we are carrying out with the support of Hampshire Constabulary, Hampshire County Council trading standards, East Hampshire District Council planning, Southern Water, the Environment Agency, the Vehicle Operator and Standards Agency (VOSA), and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
"We are investigating allegations of the systematic defrauding of householders who have agreed and paid in good faith for substantial work on their properties, often at supposedly cut price rates, only to find that they have been left in the lurch with thousands of pounds of work not done. In some cases people have been left with totally dismantled properties.
"The colleagues from the other agencies are carrying out related investigations into alleged water pollution, planning, vehicle fuel and licensing and VAT offences being committed at and from the addresses we have been to today.
"This is an example of the increasingly multi-agency approach being adopted by law enforcement to allegations of organised cross border criminality.
"We will follow up any other allegations that may relate to this enquiry. People can contact us via 0845 60 70 999 asking for the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit.”
Inspector Chris White of Hampshire Constabulary added; "This is a significant multi-agency operation targeting people suspected of serious crime within Hampshire and surrounding areas. I know that our local community within East Hampshire will gain confidence and reassurance from our actions today.”
SEROCU comprises police officers and staff from the forces of Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, and Thames Valley, the UK Border Agency, HMRC and the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). It works with law enforcement partners to combat cross-border organised crime. Olivia Pinkney, Assistant Chief Constable of Sussex, chairs the police Regional management board responsible for SEROCU, which is based in Sussex.
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