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A South Wales conman who had his legs broken when a drugs deal soured, spent years in prison, who announced his engagement even though he was still married, and was exclusively exposed by The Eye, is now expanding his crooked businesses overseas.
Howard Williams/James Daniels’ company Hubark Limited advertises online in Spanish, but is based in Blackwood, while another of his firms called Billy’s Diner at Porth in the Rhondda, has a correspondence address in Cardiff.
We have also been given details that Williams/Daniels is allegedly wrongly claiming grants for people suffering from the effects of the pandemic lockdown.
Plainly customers are unhappy at the service they have received with Billy’s Diner.
One angry customer said on Facebook (FB) the food took an hour and 20 minutes to arrive, while another declared:“I ordered a hot dog for myself, with salad and cheese, I opened the box and had one leaf of lettuce and roughly 5 grated bits of cheese, fair to say I had about two bites of it…My daughter had a chicken burger, not too much of a problem with that however had a stringy texture on the chicken, and felt undercooked, fair to say nearly everything went in the bin”.
Meat there was served raw has been condemned as ‘disgusting’, and it has been stated on FB that Trading Standards would be contacted.
Criminal Howard Williams moved to Murcia in Spain, changed his name to ‘James Daniels’, and has been in prison on a variety of charges (his own father has described him to us as a “complete crook”). But as with our other revelations there is a growing frustration that the details have not been covered by the mainstream media in Wales.
Apart from being an ‘Estate Agent’, Williams/Daniels’ businesses have been mainly in the cafe or restaurant trades, but when he ran ‘Crave Desserts’ in Merthyr Tydfil staff said on FB they had to “beg” for money, and that it was “absolutely disgusting”.
We have also been contacted by one of the drivers for this cafe who gave us extremely disturbing information. He said: “He (Williams/Daniels) not paying me for the work I did for him and he also not paying the other drivers. Thank god I read your report on him, it save me money and bother. The guy is a joke. I’m now £200 out of pocket, but it could be worst”.
A recent text message about the latest activities of Williams/Daniels said that he has: “… taken everything out AGAIN not paid the staff Owes one of the girls £500 locked up and empty”. Earlier a ‘Crave Desserts’ staff member warned others on FB: “Nobody work for Crave desserts in Merthyr town, haven’t paid some of their staff for weeks, delivery drivers and kitchen staff, always says it will be in on Friday or Tuesday and I’m still waiting 5 weeks on along with others who worked there. Always got to beg for your money, Absolutely disgusting, you work the hours and expect to be paid! They have blocked me from their page and ain’t answering my messages, fuming!
We also understand Williams/Daniels has a new partner, although we showed how two years ago he announced on social media his engagement to another woman called Danni (or Danielle) Greer while he was still married to a third person.
Our journalists have disclosed too that Williams/Daniels had opened a tanning studio in Cardiff, although like many of his past businesses this one is also in trouble.
But it seems that many people have been taken in by his lies.
One person close to Williams/Daniels told us: “He has sucked everyone in. He owes some staff and the landlords lots of money who haven’t been paid at all. He’s using the name James Daniels and Alfie Elkins and (a) cafe (he opened) was called ALFIE’S in Roath (Cardiff). Another cafe (he opened) was called Alfie’s in Tonypandy, then he opened Scoops in Pontyclun.”
The reviews of his cafe ‘businesses’ (before the lockdown) were not good and it appeared he was taking orders but not sending out food. One critical comment read: “We didn’t receive the BBQ Chicken Wrap in the order. We have tried to ring twice but no answer”.
The details of the latest affairs of Williams/Daniels provide a fascinating insight into the life of a man who has formerly dealt in unlawful drugs, and needed hospital treatment after his legs were smashed following a badly-executed deal.
Williams/Daniels has admitted to being imprisoned, but described it in a FB post as a “short while”, when his convictions in fact total more than four years. He claimed: “… when I was younger I did spend a short while in prison for fraud in the UK”, and adds: “Stand up to the liars (and) haters…”.
But Williams/Daniels himself is a liar and hater. Our journalists have shown how over 10 years his jail sentences have totalled four years four months, involving 25 counts of deception, and he has been made bankrupt three times. When in one of his previous ‘careers’ he has conned people into thinking he is an ‘Estate Agent’, the anger of an individual was clear on a property website: “He (Williams/Daniels) makes you pay circa £10k deposit and then disappears into the sunset”. At a property event in the South of England The Eye were told that an investor had lost £30,000 to him.
His extraordinary exploits have even been the subject of our satirical writer Edwin Phillips and Williams/Daniels has boasted of owning a boat as well as a jetski, which he has said on FB was for sale.
He has posted a YouTube interview on his property website where he brags about his property ‘expertise’. He claims he had a “massive” estate agency business, but went from earning £20,000 a week to having just £56 in his pocket and living on the streets. Williams/Daniels also alleges he has driven expensive cars, and said in the interview that it took just “24 hours” to turn the £56 into £1,000, yet some critics have questioned how much of this is true. One who is owed thousands of pounds by Williams/Daniels told The Eye: “This is all made up. He lives in a complete fantasy world!”.
Williams/Daniels has been in charge, too, of marketing for a Spanish wine bar called ‘Blanco’ in Murcia, and he announced his engagement to Ms Greer on the bar’s website, where the ‘liar’ post was also published.
But our journalists have divulged how over one Christmas and New Year he warned customers on social media that they could no longer accept credit cards at Blanco, even though these periods are the busiest times of year for restaurants and it is almost unheard of for them only to take cash then.
He also ran dance nights at a disco in Spain called ‘Roldan’ but it closed soon after our disclosures. Following them, Williams/Daniels asked a specialist company how to “get rid” of the “negative” stories about him on the internet. He wrote: “When I google James daniels spain or James Daniels property or James Daniels murcia a load of website links appear for the-eye.wales which are negative reviews and not true (The Eye – nothing is untrue). How do I get rid of these an(d) how much does it cost? Also how long does it take?”.
Apart from having his legs broken when an illegal drugs deal soured, we have also disclosed how formerly Williams/Daniels has teamed up with another ex-criminal from South Wales, who had been put behind bars for drug offences, to start a ‘charity’. He launched the ‘Crisis Housing Charity’ and asked for donations from the public in a venture designed ostensibly to help ex-convicts find homes. The ‘charity’ gave an address in Cardiff but does not now exist.
There is, however, mounting consternation that only The Eye have covered the exploits of Williams/Daniels.
One who knows him well, told us: “I was totally ignored when I emailed (the mainstream media) back last year, I was so hopeful when it was the Spanish national police after him. He was also wanted for identification fraud here. Turns my stomach just thinking of what he is doing. Evil man”.
The Editor of The Eye Phil Parry as well as his friends, wife and children, have been subjected to a torrent of abuse on social media from Williams/Daniels and his supporters, following our discoveries.
In one tirade he wrote: “You write total lies about people (The Eye – we only report facts), bully to the point of harassment and suicide, and will not answer a direct email? This is not journalism this is a mixture of Phil Parry (The ex journalist) and (others) you are pure scum!!!!! Let it be publicly known that The Eye does NOT care about people it just lies to make fictitious stories up. BULLYING, LIES, MENTAL HEALTH ABUSE TO NAME BUT A FEW!!!!!”.
In another he said: “I am have contacted you (sic) numerous times before asking why you consistently, stalk, bully and harass me? … You so far have asked the following for comments:
Thief
Abuser (The Eye have never said Williams/Daniels is an abuser).
Liar
Sex Offender (The Eye have never said Williams/Daniels is a sex offender).
Drug user (The Eye have never said Williams/Daniels is a drug-user, just that he has dealt in illegal drugs).
Meanwhile his ex-business partner, Sam McManus (also known as ‘Georgeson’), has first-hand knowledge of his lies. He has admitted he too was conned by him and that Williams/Daniels was a ‘sick man’. Mr McManus explained to us how he was deceived along with everyone else, and told The Eye: “He (Williams/Daniels) has fooled many people and I can only be grateful that there are good investigative journalists like you guys who expose greedy people like him. It is embarrassing to admit that I am yet another victim of his greed”.
Apart from describing his son as a crook, Williams’/Daniels’ father has told us how he was called by the police to Clifton suspension bridge where Williams/Daniels was threatening to commit suicide, and how he spent part of a Christmas Day outside the walls of Cardiff jail to be near his son inside. Bill Williams, who ran a sofa business in South Wales, believes his son stole about £250,000 from him in cash and stock. He has posted on FB that he and his wife knew of their son’s past and on occasions did not like him, although always loved him
He said: “… we know his wrongs often we felt he was a little xxxxx but whatever we allways (sic) love him, often we did,nt like him but we always have and always will love him…”.
Williams/Daniels also said he performed at expensive property ‘seminars’ in upmarket hotels or golf clubs around South Wales where customers were duped once again. For £299 potential clients were tempted with a “Special Offer February Deal – Sourcing and rent to rent training weekend”. The ‘offer’ was removed from Williams/Daniels’ Facebook site, where he was known as ‘The Shoes’, soon afterwards, and when The Eye contacted one of the golf clubs, officials had no record of it taking place.
Among the many accusations on social media from Williams/Daniels to the family of Mr Parry, is that we are pursuing a person with, as he puts it, “severe mental health illness” and cases of this are well known to our Editor.
However it appears this illness has not stopped Williams/Daniels.
Even during the pandemic he is expanding…
Tomorrow – more alarming revelations about a Welsh rugby ‘expert’ who is used by the BBC, after Wales’ match against Ireland.
Our Editor, Mr Parry’s memories of his extraordinary decades long award-winning career in journalism (including exposing the activities of criminals) as he was gripped by the incurable disabling condition Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP), have been released in a major new book ‘A Good Story’. Order the book now. The picture doubles as a cut-and-paste poster!
