A LOAN SHARK operating in Coventry has been sentenced to 31 months in prison and handed a Criminal Behaviour Order.
James Ringrose had lent thousands of pounds to people, including workmates, and charged ‘exorbitant’ interest rates and putting pressure on them to make them pay.
The 38-year-old left borrowers feeling distraught and even suicidal as they struggled to pay him back.
Ringrose admitted two charges of illegal money lending and money laundering following an investigation by the England Illegal Money Lending Team (IMLT) and appeared before Warwick Crown Court for sentencing last Friday.
The CBO bans Ringrose from entering Stoke Aldermoor and providing or collecting unauthorised loans, directly or indirectly, for the next five years.
The prosecution was brought by the MLT which worked with Coventry Trading Standards and West Midlands Police.
Mr Jonathan Barker, prosecuting on behalf of the IMLT, told the court Ringrose was operating as a loan shark between 2016 and July 2024 and used some of the proceeds to fund a house extension and cosmetic procedures in Turkey.
Ringrose was not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to lend money, meaning he could charge whatever he wanted and did not have to abide by rules which protect borrowers.
Mr Barker said one man – a workmate who needed cash but could not get a loan from a mainstream lender – borrowed £40 and repaid £60. A few weeks later borrowed a further £100 and was told to repay £140. The borrowing continued and by 2019 he was repaying Ringrose £400-a-month.
Mr Barker said the borrower would go to a cashpoint and meet Ringrose, who had a clipboard and crossed his name off when he handed over cash.
He said Ringrose also asked this borrower to withdraw using debit cards belonging to other people.
Mr Barker said the borrowing ‘spiralled out of control’. He was never given any paperwork and never knew exactly how much he owed.
Another colleague, who needed cash to repair a car, borrowed £200 and was told she would must repay £280 by the end of the month.
She later took another loan on the same terms and when she struggled to repay, they came to an agreement where she was repaying £80 a month
Mr Barker said she was so scared of repercussions she continued to make payments for three years, significantly more than the original sum.
Ringrose was arrested at an address in Barons Croft, Nuneaton.
Analysis of his accounts showed, since November 2016, there were 317 third party credits totalling more than £80,000, 29 cash credits of over £17,000, 63 third party debits totalling just over £4,500 and 626 cash withdrawals worth over £90,000.
In July 2024, he was arrested again following a warrant at an address in The Barley Lea, Coventry.
A search of his property recovered loan records hidden.
The court heard another borrower took out £1,000 in various installments and was charged double interest on anything over £100, which led her into a cycle of debt.
Mr Barker said: “She estimates over the years she has borrowed a total of £5,000 and has already paid over £50,000 back, but the defendant had stated she still owes him over £60,000.”
He added she endured constant harassment from Ringrose, including phone calls, turning up at her workplace, forcing her to provide bank statements and wage slips and even entering her home without permission. On one occasion Ringrose followed her around Coventry, shouted at her in the street and threatened her partner to get her to pay.
Mr Gerard Cullen, defending, told the court there was a lack of sophistication in the offending and Ringrose did not realise he was acting illegally at first.
The judge, Mr Recorder Tom Restall, said despite coming to the attention of the authorities, Ringrose continued to lend money, charging ‘exorbitant’ levels of interest.
For the first count of illegal money lending, Ringrose was sentenced to 16 months in jail to run concurrently with a three-month sentence for money laundering.
For the second offence of illegal lending, he was handed a 12-month sentence together with one month for money laundering, to run concurrently, but consecutive to the first set of offences.
He was also handed three months’ custody for breach of a suspended sentence for an earlier unrelated offence, bringing his total sentence to 31 months.
Ringrose was also made subject to a 10-year restraining order in relation to one borrower.
Dave Benbow, acting head of the IMLT, a national organisation hosted by Birmingham City Council, which investigates and prosecutes loan sharks, said: “This case is the first time we have used a Criminal Behaviour Order, which means that not only has Ringrose been punished for his illegal money lending activities, he will also be subject to strict rules that stop him acting as an illegal lender in the future.
“Even when illegal lenders are convicted and sentenced, that is not the end of it. We will do whatever we can to ensure they are not free to continue to blight communities in any way.”
