🔒 Shutter fitter sentenced to five years for defrauding clients

Garfield Antonio Robb, a shutter fitter, has been sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of nine counts of obtaining property by deception. Robb, who was convicted last year, had defrauded his clients of at least $15,400 over a span of nearly seven years, between 2014 and 2020. His scams included accepting money for jobs that he did not complete and using old, non-functional shutters. Despite being out on bail and awaiting his sentencing hearing, Robb continued to work as a shutter fitter. He was remanded into custody last Friday. 🚔

Throughout his trial, Robb maintained his innocence, claiming that he had completed the work he had been paid for and that any delays were due to health issues. However, multiple witnesses testified that Robb showed no remorse for the money he had taken from people who could ill-afford it. Several of Robb’s victims had lodged complaints against him with the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) as early as 2015, but these were initially dismissed as civil disputes. It was only after dozens of victims shared their stories of being conned on Cayman Marl Road that the RCIPS launched a full investigation. 🚨

In his ruling, Justice Franks Williams agreed with the prosecution that Robb’s offences constituted a breach of trust, as he had made false promises and failed to fulfill them. The judge also ordered Robb to compensate his victims, despite Robb's insistence that he had no money. The sentence includes two years in prison for each count relating to four victims, to run concurrently, and an additional three years for each of the counts relating to another five victims, to run concurrently with each other but consecutively to the two years. This brings the total sentence to five years. ⚖️