By Jodie Yettram

Copyright jerseyeveningpost

GAVIN Roberts was once a well-known figure in Jersey’s hospitality scene as the owner of Shinzo, a steak and sushi restaurant in St Aubin.

But behind the image of a confident businessman lay a pattern of coercion, abuse and deception that caused lasting harm to those around him.

He is now serving lengthy prison terms for two very different sets of crimes – sexual offences and large-scale fraud – both underpinned by the same controlling behaviour.

Roberts was convicted last year of raping and assaulting his former partner – leaving her with lasting physical injuries and long-term psychological trauma – in a trial that also resulted in convictions for assaults on another woman.

During the investigation, officers also found videos on his electronic devices – each between one and two hours long – showing Roberts having sex with a woman who appeared unaware she was being filmed.

In November 2024, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for 11 offences committed between 2018 and 2022, including rape, two counts of sexual penetration without consent, five counts of common or grave and criminal assault, and three counts of voyeurism.

And yesterday, he was back in court and sentenced to an additional three years at HMP La Moye for fraud and forgery worth more than £700,000.

The offences, committed between 2018 and 2022 while he was running Shinzo – which closed in 2022 owing thousands of pounds in unpaid debt – left victims out of pocket by hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Both inquiries were lengthy and complex, and deeply sensitive for those involved. The fraud case was built over three years by the Joint Financial Crimes Unit, while the sexual offences were investigated over 16 months by the Public Protection Unit.

Although prosecuted separately, the two inquiries often overlapped, with evidence seized in one used in the other.

Together, the investigations showed how Roberts exploited and manipulated his victims – using violence, intimidation and deception to maintain control while funding what police described as a “champagne-fuelled lifestyle” involving sex workers, hotels and restaurants.

But the case was not an easy one to build, and was fraught with challenges – from working through “boxes and boxes” of financial records to tracking down the woman who had been filmed having sex without her consent and dealing with uncooperative authorities overseas, as the lead investigators described on a special podcast episode, which is available on the JEP’s sister publication Bailiwick Express.

On ‘Inside the Investigation: Uncovering an abuser and fraudster‘, Detective Constable Carla Garnier of the Public Protection Unit and financial investigator Faith Shalamon explained how they put the cases together, and how two very different strands of crime were eventually uncovered and connected.

Building the fraud investigation

The financial inquiry began in 2022 when a complainant went to police after losing money invested in the failed steak and sushi eatery.

“At first I thought this might just be a bad investment,” Detective Constable Faith Shalamon said. “Unfortunately, we do get people coming to us who believe that they’ve been a victim of criminality, but once you unpeel and look at all the material and the evidence, it actually sits in the civil arena.”

That all changed when she was handed a forged legal document purporting to show Roberts held substantial overseas assets – a document he had used to induce others to invest in his business.

“The document was quite clearly a forgery,” the Detective Constable said. “So once I had that, we realised we’d got a criminal investigation, and we could move forward with that.”

Over the next three years, investigators gathered more than 450 exhibits, many hundreds of pages long, in what became what DC Shalamon described as a “very voluminous” case.

The inquiry established that Roberts lied repeatedly about his finances between 2018 and 2022 to induce people to invest in his restaurant, and used forged paperwork to back up his claims.

DC Shalamon said: “He lied and he created forged documents to support his dishonesty. The investigation, which took three years, uncovered that in truth he had no assets at all.”

Victims lost life savings, pensions and, in some cases, risked their homes by taking out loans secured on property.

This was all based on Roberts lies and dishonesty, while he used at least £180,000 of their money to fund his own “champagne-fueled” lifestyle.

“Had they known the truth, they wouldn’t have given him a penny of their money,” Ms Shalamon said. “They’ve been left out of pocket by hundreds of thousands of pounds.”

And financial crime is not just about the loss of money, as the Detective Constable explained, but also about the emotional toll and the breach of trust experienced by victims.

“You can’t ever underestimate the effect of financial crime,” she continued. “These people trusted Roberts. They trusted him when they gave him all their money, and he completely deceived them.

“I do know that the victims in this case have suffered tremendously. They’ve lost everything.”

Uncovering the sexual offences

Running in parallel was the sexual offences inquiry, launched in 2022 when Roberts’s then-partner, Suzie Mahe, came to the police with “significant injuries”.

From her first interview, officers identified further allegations of rape, assault and controlling behaviour.

The inquiry widened when another woman came forward with complaints of assault.

During the investigation, DC Garnier seized Roberts’s electronic devices, which provided evidence not only for the sexual-offence case but also for the fraud inquiry.

Among the material recovered were hours of video footage that ultimately formed the basis of separate voyeurism charges.

“This type of work involves the digital forensic units, them extracting the data, someone reviewing the data, and someone making a report,” DC Garnier explained. “In this case, it took time to try to identify who the victims were of the voyeurism. Very time-consuming, but well worth the time spent.”

The inquiry also extended overseas after Ms Mahe reported being attacked during a holiday in Turkey, but efforts to obtain supporting evidence from local authorities were, in DC Garnier’s words, “very difficult”

Ms Mahe told police he dragged her into a hotel room, where he raped her. In Jersey, he later strangled and beat her on two further occasions, and once locked her out of their home.

She was later diagnosed with upper airway paradoxical dysfunction and vocal cord damage as a result of the attacks, and was initially unable to communicate.

Investigators tried to secure evidence from Turkish authorities to support the case, but DC Garnier said it yielded little.

CCTV that might have supported the account was not working that night, and hotel staff confirmed they had attended the couple’s room because of noise, but kept no records.

“When you try to contact other jurisdictions, sometimes you’re successful, other times you’re not,” DC Garnier said. “Sometimes you’re just ignored, and there’s nothing that you can do.”

Despite the obstacles, the evidence gathered was enough to bring the case to court.

In February 2024, after a nine-day trial, Roberts was convicted of multiple serious offences.

The jury returned unanimous verdicts after three and a half hours of deliberation, and Roberts was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Ms Mahe later waived her anonymity to speak publicly about her experience to encourage other women to speak up – a decision DC Garnier described as “really brave”.

“We do believe that there are some other women out there who have been subjected to his coercive and controlling behaviour,” DC Garnier added.

“Suzie’s done really well to raise awareness of domestic abuse, and for others who may realise that they need to talk to someone about what they’re experiencing.”

Using Clare’s Law

The case also highlighted the use of Clare’s Law – a scheme that allows police to disclose information to individuals about a partner’s history of violence or abuse, either proactively (“right to know”) or upon request (“right to ask”).

In this case, the police used the “right to know” provision to warn Ms Mahe about Roberts’s past.

“How we approach the subject is, if the police have information to suggest that a domestic perpetrator has formed a new relationship, then the police will seek to disclose some information to that new partner,” DC Garnier explained.

She said the process involves checks and approvals before any information is shared, and that the scheme is there to help people make informed choices about their relationships and keep themselves safe.

DC Garnier added that more Islanders were now being warned under the scheme, which she attributed to increased awareness and intelligence-sharing across agencies.

“Over the years, we have been providing disclosures more than we used to, some five years ago,” she said.

“Anyone who wants to find out can, and it’s as simple as either picking up the phone or emailing. It’s a very straightforward process.”

Two strands, one pattern

Although the fraud and sexual offences were prosecuted separately, the two investigations often intersected.

Devices seized in one yielded evidence for the other, and both revealed the same underlying behaviour – coercion, control and manipulation.

“When somebody commits domestic abuse, they can use the financial side of things to dominate, to isolate and control their victim,” Ms Shalamon said.

“Financial abuse in the context of coercive control isn’t about money. It’s about power and entrapment, and victims can appear to comply, but it’s often as a result of sustained, psychological manipulation.”

And while both inquiries were long and complex, the officers stressed that their priority throughout was supporting the victims.

“It’s not about me, it’s about them,” said DC Shalamon when asked about how she was feeling about the conclusion of the case with the sentencing on Thursday.

“They won’t get their money back, but they will get justice. I hope this gives them some closure so they can move on with their lives.”

DC Garnier added: “People are not alone. There are agencies that can support them, and they’re not difficult to access. If in doubt, call us – we’re there for advice as well as investigation. Our main priority is to safeguard people.”