A former National Trust employee, Roger Bryant, has been sentenced to six and a half years in prison after defrauding the organisation out of more than £1 million. Bryant, 73, from Barnstaple, Devon, appeared in Bristol Crown Court alongside his two sons, James and Scott Bryant, who laundered the proceeds of the fraud.
Roger Bryant, who worked as a building surveyor for the National Trust, authorised 148 fraudulent invoices for work that was never carried out, funnelling the money into companies linked to his sons. James Bryant, 49, and Scott Bryant, 38, both of Barnstaple, received money transferred from the Trust into their accounts over several years.
The fraud was uncovered in October 2013 during a procurement review by the National Trust. Investigators found that a company linked to James Bryant was the Trust’s largest supplier in the area, despite no managers being familiar with the company. When questioned, Roger Bryant falsely claimed the company had completed legitimate work.
Further investigation revealed that no such work had been done. Roger Bryant attempted to pervert the course of justice by asking individuals to lie about witnessing work and hiding National Trust paperwork in a milking shed on his son’s farm. In another instance of fraud, Bryant submitted invoices for work done on his personal property, passing them off as National Trust projects.
James Bryant was sentenced to four years in prison, while Scott Bryant received an 18-month suspended sentence and 170 hours of unpaid work.
Sian Mitchell from the Crown Prosecution Service stated, “Roger Bryant breached the trust placed in him and defrauded a charitable organisation meant to benefit the public. Despite attempts to mislead investigators, we built a robust case proving his guilt. We will not hesitate to prosecute cases of serious fraud, and we are pursuing confiscation proceedings to recover funds.”
Detective Inspector Adam Bond from Devon and Cornwall Police acknowledged the complexity of the case, which took years to investigate. “The sentences reflect the severity of this fraud, especially considering that the victim is a respected charitable organisation responsible for preserving the country’s heritage.”
Confiscation proceedings are underway to recover any available funds linked to the fraud.
