A man who leased a £36,000 Volvo car gave it to illegal money lenders as collateral on a loan he took out, a court has heard. The Volvo is now missing but is believed to have been shipped to Poland by the loan sharks or their associates.
To try to cover his tracks, Adrian Maciejewski initially told the garage he leased the vehicle from that he could not return it because his brother had it and his sibling was self-isolating with Covid. Swansea Crown Court heard the car scam wasn't the only way Maciejewski has turned to crime to make money – the dad-of-one has previously harassed a celebrity and demanded money from them, threatening to take his own life if he wasn't paid.
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Megan Jones, prosecuting, said in November 2019 Maciejewski took out a 12-month lease on a £36,000 Volvo vehicle from Quality Vehicle Hire in Cwmbwrla in Swansea. The defendant made the regular monthly £576 payments but when the garage boss contacted him in November 2021 to arrange for the Volvo's return the defendant told him he had lent it to his brother who was now self-isolating. The court heard the garage boss – who knows Maciejewski from the car trade – gave the defendant a week's grace period but when he contacted him again was told that Maciejewski's brother had driven the Volvo to Poland to see their parents. The prosecutor said the garage boss gave the defendant a week to return the missing Volvo and said otherwise he would have to report it as stolen. When Maciejewski turned up at Quality Vehicle Hire to return another leased vehicle on November 17 he said the Volvo was in Poland but he did not know who had it or where it was. Read about the trusted treasurer of a popular boat club who raided the coffers and helped himself to tens of thousands of pounds of its money.
Police were contacted and in his interview the defendant said that in the summer of 2019 he had found himself with debts of between £60,000 and £70,000 and, out of desperation, had put posts on social media asking if anyone could loan him money. He said he had been approached by people offering to loan him £10,000 for which he would have to pay back £1,000 per month for 20 months and when he found himself struggling to make the repayments he gave the money lenders the Volvo as collateral. Maciejewski said he was warned by the lenders that if he told the police about the arrangements there would be "trouble" and then in October 2020 when he contacted them to tell them he needed the vehicle back as he would soon have to return it he was told it was in Poland. Read about a successful recruitment consultant who lost his business and home in the Covid pandemic and turned to dealing cocaine drugs to make ends meet and support this young children.
Maciejewski, of Waun Gron, Rhydyfro, Pontardawe, admitted theft. He has three previous convictions for five offences including harassment. This offence, for which he was given a community order in 2018, saw him writing letters to an unnamed "television personality" demanding money, threatening suicide, and turning up at the celebrity's property.
Giles Hayes, for Maciejewski, said the defendant had been in a business relationship with the garage boss for a number of years and had previously leased vehicles from him without incident. He said his client's "financial desperation" had led him to make a "rash and very stupid decision" and he was remorseful for his actions. The advocate said Maciejewski was a hardworking man who was trying to pay off his debts and he said a period of immediate custody would impact on his wife and teenage daughter. The advocate also pointed to the delay in the case with his client having made full admissions in police interview in December 2020 but not being charged via postal requisition until March 2022.
Judge Huw Rees told Maciejewski that as somebody who had worked in the car trade for many years he would have known the financial impact on his victim of what he was doing. He noted the defendant's previous conviction for harassment and told him: "You are capable of being creative in your dishonesty".
The judge described the delay in the matter being charged as "unconscionable" and said in the period since his arrest there had been no re-offending and the defendant had worked hard to restore some stability to the family's finances which would be threatened if he were to be sent straight into custody. With a one-third discount for his guilty plea Maciejewski was sentenced to eight months in prison suspended for 18 months and was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work. The judge said given the defendant's financial situation he would not award any compensation to the victim. Judge Rees told Maciejewski: "I am giving you an opportunity for the sake of others – if you abuse it the responsibility will be yours and I will send you to prison."
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