Two debt conmen were caught when a Nottinghamshire victim committed suicide but left behind notes which led police to their crimes.
Kenneth Garvey and Bradley Lomas tricked people across the country by calling small business owners to demand money for advertising deals which did not exist.
Police began investigating them in July 2014 after a 47-year-old woman from Mansfield was found dead by her family.
She left notes explaining how she had been pursued for debts relating to advertising companies in the Greater Manchester area which she did not believe she owed.
Evidence from phone calls also showed she had been bombarded by vast amounts of telephone calls from Manchester-based companies and had been sent a number of invoices demanding money.
Garvey, 38, was eventually caught and sentenced to four-and-a-half years and Lomas, 34, to three years, after they both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation.
A third man, Darren Cordock, 38, was given a suspended jail sentence after admitting helping the conmen.
Notts Police teamed up with the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau and found other victims around the country.
They discovered Garvey and Lomas began by contacting small business owners either trying to sell advertising in small publications or simply contacting them claiming they had already agreed to advertising and it was time to pay.
Sometimes when people had agreed to pay, they would receive more telephone calls from people who claimed to be bailiffs and court officers.
Garvey, Lomas, and Cordock were sentenced when they appeared at Nottingham Crown Court on Wednesday 28 September 2016.
Garvey, of Blakeley, Manchester, ran number of companies including ‘Just Say No To Drugs’ and ‘PFA Community Safe’.
Garvey was shown to have contacted the victims from various telephone numbers. Using a number of alias names and he convinced victims that he was trying to help them by getting their debts reduced.
Lomas, of Oldham, was deemed by the judge to have taken a significant role but was said to have been led by Garvey.
Evidence from mobile phones showed clear collusion between Garvey and Lomas and in text messages they shared company information, described the roles they should play and what should be said to convince victims to send them money.
In sentencing Garvey and Lomas the Judge at Nottingham Crown Court made it clear to both their actions had not just caused financial hardship but had led to the death of a hardworking woman who was simply trying to assist her husband in running their family business.
An inquest was held on October 28 and the coroner recorded a verdict that she took her own life.
Cordock, of Droyslden, Manchester, was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years after he pleaded guilty to concealing criminal property after allowing a bank account and a limited company to be set up in his name which others later used for crime. He was also ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid community work.
A fourth man failed to attend court and a warrant has been issued by the court for his arrest.
Anyone who believes they may be being targeted by a scam is advised to call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or Notts Police on 101.
