A COUPLE have spoken out for the first time about the Wilmslow conman who made their lives a éliving hellé for four years.
Anton Grashion, 58 and his wife Christine, 54, are now starting a new life in Tenerife after convicted fraudster John Thorpe, of Hawthorne Avenue, conned his way into their business and stole it from them.
He was jailed for a minimum of four years and three months by a judge sitting at Manchester Crown Court last month.
The courageous couple duped by Thorpe were determined to see justice done and fought tirelessly with Stockport police to see him put behind bars.
But they do not believe they are the first people to have fallen foul of Thorpe and they hope that by sharing their story they will encourage others to go to the police.
Anton said: éI cannot speak highly enough of the police they worked so hard for us.
éWhen I heard the sentence I felt absolutely euphoric. I am delighted to see him behind bars. It wasnét for the money é I just did not want him to get his claws into anyone else.é
The couple formerly of Outwood Road, Heald Green, spent five years building up CMG Rentals, trading as Fair Deal Autos, before meeting Thorpe who hired a car from them in early 2001 and befriended them.
He pounced after learning they were planning to move to Tenerife telling them he would like to buy the business.
In a relentless con to avoid paying out the é105,000 he owed Thorpe wove an extraordinary web of deceit.
Forgery
He forged county court documents to the effect that he had more than a quarter of a million pounds tied up in a pension fund.
He faked letters from the HSBC bank, which claimed he made a BACS payment transfer, but the money never arrived.
Anton said: éHe even arranged to come to Tenerife and pay us. I booked him three nights in a hotel but he never turned up.
éHe went to the airport with my son-in-law with a fake bundle of Euros. Just before he got on the plane he invented an excuse to get rid of him and then claimed that he had been arrested at the airport.é
As this was happening, Anton and Christine were trying to set up their retirement property in Spain.
With deposits already paid on property, building work and furniture they could not complete their deals without the money from the sale of the business. They lost more than é10,000.
In the end, by November 2001, they flew back to England and instructed solicitors to try and reclaim the business.
A winding up petition was served in February 2002 but Thorpe stayed one step ahead, transferring the assets of CMG rentals to a separate company Go Cheaper Car Hire.
When the petition was served, CMG rentals had no assets to recover and the Grashions didnét get a penny.
They were forced to abandon their retirement plan and spend twenty hours a day working to build up a new business in Tenerife to make back the money they had lost.
But they were determined to make the crook pay and took their case to the police.
After a three year investigation led by DC John Conroy, they saw justice done.
Thorpe pleaded guilty to three charges of forgery, one charge of obtaining property by deception and one charge of acting as a director of a company when bankrupt and was jailed for four years and three months.
His two houses and five luxury cars were confiscated under the Proceeds of Crime Act and he now has to pay the Grashions é65,000 or face an extra two years on top of his sentence.
Anton said: éIt made me feel for the very first time in my life that I wanted to put my hands on someone and kill them - just the thought of him doing it to someone else.
éIt is entirely out of character for me but I could happily see him swinging on the end of a rope é this man is a complete and utter villain.
éHe seemed like a very hard working man. He was always busy and very well organised, his phone was always ringing and he always had his brief case with him.é
éHe seemed to be doing everything right. Everything looked like it was going through no problem at all.é
Thorpe even hired Christineés daughter and son-in-law Tina and Allan Craig as managers, he said.
