Fraudster conned luxury hotels out of £580k by selling fake Scottish tea

A antheral has been recovered blameworthy of fraud totalling astir £600,000 aft helium passed disconnected mean beverage arsenic a premium merchandise grown successful Scotland.

Thomas Robinson, 52, claimed the beverage was a unsocial assortment helium had grown astatine his Perthshire property utilizing innovative techniques.

Operating arsenic The Wee Tea Plantation, helium past fraudulently sold it to high-profile clients successful the hospitality sector, including luxury hotels and retailers, betwixt January 2014 and February 2019.

Varieties listed connected the website - which touted partnerships with bid relation Caledonian Sleeper and the Royal Botanic Garden successful Edinburgh - see Dalreoch White, Silver Needles, Scottish Antlers Tea, and Highland Green.

Also known arsenic Tam O'Braan and Thomas O'Brien, Robinson was recovered to person misled genuine Scottish beverage growers by selling them plants helium falsely claimed were a unique, locally-grown variety.

He besides bolstered his credibility by fabricating world qualifications and manufacture awards.

An probe by Food Standards Scotland (FSS) recovered Robinson's misrepresentations led to his clients losing a full of £584,783.

He was recovered blameworthy of 2 counts of fraud by a assemblage astatine Falkirk Sheriff Court connected Thursday, and is owed to beryllium sentenced astatine Stirling Sheriff Court connected 25 June.

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In a statement, Ron McNaughton, caput of Scottish nutrient transgression and incidents portion astatine FSS, said: "This was not a victimless transgression - individuals, businesses, and an emerging assemblage of genuine Scottish beverage growers suffered existent fiscal and reputational harm arsenic a effect of deliberate deception."

He past thanked a witnesser who came guardant and added: "Fraud of this quality is often hard to observe and adjacent harder to prove, but we were determined to prosecute each enactment of enquiry to physique the strongest imaginable case."