Police to investigate auctioneers Cameo after all

The announcement will end months of frustration for disgruntled customers of the Midgham-based firm who were previously told by Thames Valley Police that their complaints amounted to a civil matter.
Force spokesman Lucy Billen confirmed on Monday: “Thames Valley Police is actively investigating a number of allegations relating to Cameo Auctioneers.”
The police investigation is running in tandem with a similar probe by West Berkshire Council’s trading standards department.
Meanwhile the owner of three soccer memorabilia badges (pictured) handed to Cameo is being sought.
Cameo suspended trading following a trading standards raid last month.
Around the same time Cameo boss Jon King, of Mattock Way, Abingdon, registered a new company name, sparking fears that he will allow the previous business to go into liquidation before starting afresh.
The new firm, Cameo Auctioneers Limited, was incorporated on April 12 and members of the King family are listed as directors.
Our sister publication, the Newbury Weekly News, has also learned that a second new firm, Wiltshire Auction Rooms Ltd, was registered in the name of Mr King’s wife, Beverly, on April 23.
Since March 29 when the NWN first published Cameo clients’ concerns over non-payment , bounced cheques and missing goods, the floodgates opened and complaints about the firm poured in from across the globe.
These included claims that the firm wrongly took cash from the bank accounts of dozens of people who merely registered but had never taken part in an auction.
Trading standards chiefs, too, are understood to have fielded around 300 calls.
There was good news, however, for at least one Cameo customer.
Former part time consultant to Cameo, Tony Rampton, said he resigned in April because of his concerns over the way business was being conducted by the firm.
He said: “On my very last visit to Cameo, I was handed the three badges (pictured) and the intention was to include them in the subsequently cancelled May sporting memorabilia sale. There was no paperwork with the goods, just the vendor's account number on tags, but I was told he was from the local Newbury area.
“As was my custom. I took the material home for cataloguing into the sale. When the balloon went up at Cameo, I was still sitting with the goods but unable to contact the owner. I then took the decision to enter the badges in a sporting memorabilia auction at Wessex Auction Rooms.”
He added: “They sold well above estimate and I now want to give the vendor his proceeds of sale. I would imagine that the vendor thinks his badges have vanished into thin air, whereas he has a decent cheque coming his way.”
If you are the owner of the badges, contact Mr Rampton on 07823 775900.
Anyone wishing to contact trading standards about Cameo Auctions should phone (01635) 519930 or email tsadvice@westberks.gov.uk