A former parachute regiment captain who was arrested at East Midlands Airport for trying to leave the country attempted to fool a retired businessman into handing over thousands of pounds. Leicester Crown Court was told the businessman had already been tricked out of £4m in a previous separate incident not involving the defendant, and was on the fraudster's 'sucker's list' of people who had been previously fooled and might be conned again.
Richard Templeton, 61, of no fixed address has been jailed for two years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to make false representations between April 2018 and January 2019. Templeton contacted the victim using a fake name to pose as a financial consultant, with Templeton himself having 17 years of experience as a stockbroker since leaving the army.
He gave the "desperate" businessman a story about finding his missing millions in a hedge fund in Hong Kong, which was a completely bogus tale, reports Leicestershire Live. Templeton claimed he could recoup the missing £4m, with profits, for an upfront release fee of $72,000, which is around £57,500.
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However, the victim avoided being stung a second time, by contacting the police, said David Matthew, prosecuting. Templeton was arrested on December 30 last year at East Midlands Airport, trying to leave the country. He was carrying a "suckers list" of other people susceptible to being defrauded.
The defendant, who gave an address on Avenida Salamanca in Alicante, Spain, on arrest, pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to make false representations regarding the $72k fee, between April 2018 and January 2019. Mr Matthew said the defendant was not involved in the original £4m investment fraud, but later contacted the victim with some knowledge of the scam.
The prosecutor said: "The defendant made repeated phone calls, pressing for the $72k fee." When the victim was in hospital, Templeton pressured the man's wife.
The police linked Templeton's phone number to an application he tried to make to open an account with an online trading platform, giving an address in Bulgaria. The company held a copy of his genuine passport, revealing his true identity.
Two of Templeton's police-recorded phone calls with the victim were compared with a recording of the defendant and the online trading provider - which a voice expert concluded "closely matched". In a personal impact statement, the victim, a married grandfather, said: "I repeatedly curse myself for being duped. My retirement dreams collapsed."
The stolen £4m had been his "lifetime earnings" from the sale of his business in 2016. The original scammers have never been identified.
The victim said that Templeton later built up "a rapport" with him during a number of phone calls. He added: "He knew I'd be desperate to retrieve my funds and he played on this. He knew I was disabled due to a surgical accident."
Fortunately, the police intervened before $72k was handed over. The victim said: "The officers emphasised how skilful these people can be." He said his story should be a warning to others "not to fall into the same trap".
Charnjit Jutla, mitigating for Templeton, a divorced father-of-two, said: "He's 61 and it's shocking to see a man of his age and lack of previous convictions in court for this offence. He was a captain in the Parachute Regiment for eight years, serving in Ireland and the Falklands. He was then a BT engineer for 10 years and worked as a stockbroker in Bulgaria for 17 years.
"While in Bulgaria he was offered an opportunity. His role would be to make phone calls to obtain payments, in the way outlined by the prosecution, for a 10 percent reward.
"There were those higher up in the fraud chain. He was in financial difficulties at the time.
"He's deeply sorry for what he's done and expresses remorse to the complainant and the court. He wasn't involved in the original £4m fraud and there's no evidence he was. On release, he wants to resettle in the UK."
