National Trust 'very shocked' after finding trusted dad and his two sons stole £1m

A dad and his two sons defrauded the National Trust out of £1m in a series of 'audacious' crimes. A court heard that Roger Bryant, a former National Trust employee, worked as a building surveyor when he committed a series of frauds against the charity.

Bryant fraudulently authorised 148 invoices, from two companies linked to his sons, for work that wasn't completed. The money was then directly transferred into the bank accounts of his two sons, James Bryant, 49, and Scott Bryant, 38.

His Honour Judge Burgess KC at Bristol Crown Court described Roger Bryant's criminality as "audacious and protracted", adding that he had a position of considerable trust within the National Trust and was responsible for a budget of more than £500,000 per year. Judge Burgess said that Roger Bryant actively abused his position and that his sons were consciously complicit in the offending, DevonLive reports.

The crimes were uncovered in October 2013, when the National Trust updated its approach to procurement. A company linked to Roger Bryant's son, James, was noted as the biggest supplier to the Trust in that area, though none of the managers had heard of it. When confronted, Roger Bryant said that the company in question had existed and had done the work.

The charity looked into the matter further and visited some of the sites to look at the 'work' they were not satisfied had been completed either in whole, or partly. Where work had taken place, it was not the same as had been specified on the schedule of works and was not the standard expected by the National Trust.

From January 2008 to October 2013, the National Trust believed it was paying two companies for work which had been completed: JR Contracting in most instances and SB