Mason Jones (Reporter)
A FRAUDSTER has led a life of luxury after stealing €10 million from 100 British expats.
Ex-insurance salesman John Hirst, 61, West Yorkshire, ran a bogus pyramid scheme in Mallorca along with his wife Linda,62, and their 70-year-old accountant Richard Pollett.
The con-artist moved to the Spanish island after serving a prison sentence for defrauding Yorkshire miners out of their redundancy payments in the 1990s.
Hirst persuaded the expat investors to hand over large sums of money to his company Gilher Inc with a false guarantee of an 18% a year return.
The Serious Fraud Office has revealed how Hirst spent a staggering €242,000 of the money on his wedding and after party, €344,000 renovating his Majorca villa, and over €200,000 on flights and hotels between 2001 and 2009.
Bradford Crown Court also heard that Hirst and and his wife have spent almost €32,000 on jewellery and a further €95,000 on luxury cruises.
The trio have pleaded guilty to fraud and will be sentenced on August 31.
Barlow Clowes Mk11 and another bunch of chumps Mk11. What I can never fathom out is how these chumps aquired any capital to be ripped off of in the first place – 18% per annum LOL.
Look at that smug face. Just begging for a brick. Or better yet, a hefty smack from a miners shovel…
Another case of greedy, unrealistic folks trying to get an 18% return that was truly “too good to be true”. Same “investor motivation” happened with Bernie Madoff, Stanford, et al. Guess it’s true, “there’s a sucker born every minute – a fool and his money will soon part”. Their $$ is long gone.
Disgusting way to live
I used to sell timeshare(a fact that I am not happy with but hey we got ripped off everyday by those we worked for, but that is a different story!) and it never stops amazing me just how easy it is to convince “intelligent” people to part with their cash.. just pamper their greed gland!! Remember if it sounds to good to be true then it probably is
18% lol….