Retallick targeted 37 victims, mainly in the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown by falsely advertising the sale of vehicles on the online selling site eBay.Retallick would advertise vehicles, which people were unable to view because of lockdown, and then take money via bank transfer. He spent months making excuses about why their vehicle had not been delivered.The reports were then passed to Cleveland Police and Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council’s Trading Standards team for investigation.
“Evidence included working through text messages, phone calls, eBay messages, bank statements and anything else which involved communication between the victims and Retallick. This amounted to 20 case files of evidence." “Retallick has caused nothing but misery to many victims and his actions have had a detrimental impact on their personal relationships, businesses, and financial situations.
A spokesperson for Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council said: “Mr Retallick’s actions caused a great deal of worry and grief for many of his customers, leaving them out of pocket and without the vehicles they paid for.