Fleetwood Town owner guilty of fraud and money laundering

Fleetwood Town's owner has been found guilty of fraud and money laundering.

A trading standards investigation found Andrew Pilley, of Thornton Cleveleys, mis-sold energy contracts and posted fake customer comments on websites.

The 52-year-old was remanded in custody at Preston Crown Court and will be sentenced at a later date.

A representative for the League One side said the charges did not relate to activities at the football club and the verdict would not affect its future.

Pilley was found guilty of two counts of running a business with the intention of defrauding creditors, one count of false representation and one count of being concerned with the retention of criminal property.

Three other people were also convicted.

Pilley, who is chairman as well as owner of Fleetwood Town, was listed as a director of Fleetwood-based energy firm BES Utilities, an independent commercial utility supplier which supplies services to businesses.

The firm said it was "important to stress that the convictions in this case relate solely to individuals and not to any company".

"Mr Pilley is no longer employed by any of the companies, and they will continue to trade as normal," a representative said.

Following his conviction, the Fleetwood Town representative said Pilley wanted to "reassure supporters the club will continue to operate as normal" and the verdicts would "not affect the running or future of" the club.

"The club's senior management team and directors have been planning for a number of months for the event of a verdict of this nature," they said.

"A meeting of the club's management has taken place... and plans are already in operation to ensure its business as usual.

"We'd like to reassure supporters charges are solely brought against Andy Pilley and not Fleetwood Town Football Club or any of the businesses attached to the group."

They added that talks had "already taken place" with the English Football League (EFL) and "an announcement regarding the next step will be made in due course".

An EFL representative said it had noted the guilty verdict and would "now discuss the implications of the decision with officials at the club in the context of the Owners' and Directors' Test".

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to [email protected]