Derby builder ‘ripped off’ customers for more than £200k

The Insolvency Service said a woman paid Haslam £47,760 for a single storey extension and garage refurbishment before work stopped in June 2022.

She told Derby Crown Court the work had left her home in an “unsafe condition” that was “fully open to the elements”.

In a victim impact statement, read to the court, she said: “As a family, we feel like we have missed out on a year of our lives.

“Time stood still and we felt locked in the living room of our house day-in, day-out, and it has been incredibly harrowing.”

In mitigation defence barrister Paul Stimson told the court Haslam was “sorry” for his actions and was a “family man” who had no previous convictions.

The Insolvency Service said its investigations found almost £400,000 was paid from the M&J Builders Limited business account under the reference MG Haslam Expenses.

A £75,000 loan received by the company in October 2020 was gone within weeks and a further £63,055 was identified in cash withdrawals, the service said.

It added investigators found a personal account – which customers were told to pay into – had transferred more than £77,000 to Haslam’s daughter.

Mark Stephens, chief investigator in the criminal investigations team at The Insolvency Service, said fraud was not a “victimless crime”.

“Hearing how Michael Haslam has ruined his victims’ properties really brings home the human cost of what he did,” he said.

“Every single one of his victims would not have gone anywhere near him had they known the true state of his company’s finances.

“Fraudulent trading is one of the most serious offences the Insolvency Service investigates, and we will continue to pursue predatory fraudsters like Michael Haslam who exploit innocent people.”