A MILLIONAIRE who ran a huge kitchen business has gone on trial – accused of selling poor-quality goods.
Vance Miller, who had a luxury farmhouse home near Ripponden, ran a multimillion-pound company in Lancashire, cheating customers by selling supposed high-quality kitchens that were actually made of chipboard and MDF, a court has been told.
Miller, 44, revelled in his “unconventional approach to business” as an entrepreneur, but in fact his approach was both unconventional and criminal, Patrick Field QC told a jury at Manchester Crown Court.
Mr Field said Miller’s businesses were not “small beer,” but had a multimillion-pound turnover, boasting outlets in Poland and China.
Salesmen were sent to the homes of interested customers, who were asked to pay either in cash or by bankers draft. But when the goods were delivered they discovered the kitchens were not high quality goods but poor-quality kitchens made of MDF, chipboard or laminated block board parts.
Also on trial are Nichola Brodie, 33, from Ramsbottom, Sadiya Hussain, 29, of Milnrow, and Alan Ford, 45, from Ashton-Under-Lyne. All four deny conspiracy to defraud kitchen customers, between April 1 2001 and November 2006, by dishonestly representing by adverts kitchens that were solid or real wood when they were not.
