Two men bailed over Plas Madoc scheme fraud and theft

The £750,000 a year scheme was set up to help the deprived Plas Madoc housing estate.

Two men have appeared in court on fraud and theft charges involving a regeneration scheme at an estate.

James Beard, 46, of Denbigh, and Darrell Kelly, 35, of Greater Manchester, are charged over the running of the Plas Madoc Communities First project near Wrexham.

The assembly government funded project, costing £750,000 a year, was set up to help the deprived housing estate.

Both men were bailed by Mold magistrates until 25 February.

Mr Beard faces six charges of fraud and two of theft, including the theft of a lawn-mower, fraudulently charging his own building materials to the project and using money from the project to buy a car

Mr Kelly is charged with three charges of laundering, one of fraud and one of acquiring criminal property.

The court heard that the allegations against Mr Kelly totalled about £22,000 and Mr Beard about £5,500.

The offences the men are charged with took place between April 2006 and December last year, the court heard.

Miriam Beard, who was a senior manager for Communities First, and the wife of Mr Beard and the mother of Mr Kelly, also faces fraud charges and is due to appear before magistrates on 5 January.