A businessman who bombarded more than 110,000 people with nuisance calls in just three months has finally been cut off.
Jonathon De Sousa has been banned from operating businesses for five years after his heavy-handed cold-calling tactics came to light.
His Glasgow company – Xternal Property Renovations Ltd – targeted vulnerable people across the UK to generate business in 2015.
The majority of the phone calls – more than 109,000 – were to those registered with the TPS – the Telephone Preference Service – which is supposed to ensure their numbers are not targeted by unsolicited marketers.
De Sousa, 29, who now lives in Barnton, Cheshire, should have used the TPS before making the calls to remove individuals from his list.
But instead, he ignored the rules and blitzed people with direct marketing.
The Information Commissioners Office received 133 complaints about the unsolicited calls.
After a Government investigation, De Sousa was ordered to pay an £80,000 fine. But before the penalty could be levied, De Sousa placed the maintenance company – which owed the taxman £250,000 – into liquidation in March 2017.
Last month, De Sousa was banned from owning or running company for five years after accepting he had caused his company to fail to comply with privacy and electronic communications regulations and failed to pay the correct tax.
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David Clancy, ICO’s investigations group manager, said: “Our powers to protect the public from companies like De Sousa’s making nuisance calls have recently been made stronger than ever.”
In 2017, dozens of furious victims told how they had been left distressed by the calls.
One householder said: “I get these calls from early morning to late at night.
“I’m disabled and I worry about these calls.”
Another complainant added: “I’m absolutely weary and upset by these calls.”
