Bankrupt Fraudster Jailed for Disguising His 1.2 Million Luxury Mansion As a Barn and Filling It wit

Crooked businessman Alan Yeomans, 61, concealed his six-bedroom Shedley Manor home in Yeaveley, Derbyshire using green cladding and a corrugated steel roof so the property’s splendour could not be seen from the road.

He had told officials he was bankrupt and living in a shed in his mother's garden with just £300 worth of furniture and a £30 watch to his name.

However, when police swooped in on the barn as part of an investigation they found a treasure trove of antiques and oil paintings worth over £80,000.

Officers also discovered a £10,000 Rolex watch along with designer shoes and cannabis plants.

The Class B drugs were hidden in a secret room behind an oil painting of Elizabethan statesman Robert Cecil.

More drugs were found in a nearby outbuilding, which was used as a cannabis factory, that Yeomans powered by illegally tapping into an electricity source.

The crook also ran three front companies to launder £2.2 million of proceeds he had gained by growing and dealing cannabis.

The fraudster admitted failing to disclose property when bankrupt; three counts of taking part in or being concerned in the formation or management of a company; money laundering; possessing a prohibited weapon (CS gas canister); producing cannabis; and illegally abstracting electricity.

He was sentenced on Friday at Derby Crown Court and sent down for six-and-a-half years.

Glenn Wicks, who led the investigation for Derbyshire Police, said it was a “very intricate, sophisticated set-up”.

He added: “He is a fraudster, a liar and a drugs dealer who very cynically made himself bankrupt and then continued to act unlawfully on the management of three companies.

“What surprised me when I went into Shedley Manor was that someone built a six-bedroom manor house in the Peak District and filled it with fine art and antiques and the authorities didn't know anything about it.”

Sergeant Jon Lowes added: “When we raided the property, we were amazed to find it was filled with antiques, oil paintings and valuable jewellery.

“Behind an oil painting was a secret door that hinged away from the wall to reveal a secret room, planned and built by Alan Yeomans, which had been used to grow cannabis and there was a separate room which revealed a very professional and sophisticated cannabis production line.

“He powered all of this by abstracting electricity from a source near his house in a very crude fashion, which was exceptionally dangerous and could very well have killed him.

“Faced with the evidence we gathered during the operation, Alan Yeomans had no choice but to plead guilty to this wide variety of offences.”