Conman convicted for ambitious scam to “sell” the Ritz

9th July 2010, 9:49am

A man has been found guilty of trying to sell the Ritz Hotel for £250 million after convincing a potential buyer he was a “close friend and associate” of the owners of the Barclay brother owners of the Piccadilly hotel, according to media reports.

Southwark Crown Court in London heard how the jobless lorry driver deliberately chose victims who were interested in the world of trophy properties and fed them with endless promises that persuaded them to hand over £1 million.

Anthony Lee, 49, was found guilty of obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception following more than 14 hours of jury deliberations at the end of a four-week trial.

Lee was at the center of the con, which was based on "one great big lie", convincing potential buyer Terence Collins that he was closely linked to the reclusive billionaire Barclay brothers who are the real owners of the hotel.

But it was found that Sir Frederick and Sir David Barclay had never met or even heard of Lee and had no knowledge of the fact that he was trying to sell the landmark building from under their noses.

Anuja Dhir QC, for the prosecution, told the jury: "The deal that sounded too good to be true was a complete fantasy."

The "simple but well-targeted and ambitious scam" offered the victims a tempting bargain in which they were promised everything but frustrated with unnecessary requests until they handed over £1 million, Ms Dhir said.

Mr Collins sought the support of Dutch financier Marcus Boekhoorn, of Apvodedo, to finance the £1 million payment in December 2006, telling him the Barclay brothers had their "secretive reasons" for selling The Ritz through a third party. But the sale never happened, the promised paperwork never materialised, and the money was never returned, the jury heard.

During the trial, Lee, an undischarged bankrupt who had a police caution for theft and was behind with his rent at the time of the scam, insisted he was just a "straight-talking Yorkshireman". Almost the first thing he did when the money landed in his account was transfer £435,000 to his friend Patrick Dolan, 68, who told the court he spent it on having a good time.

Lee, of Broad Lane, Beal, Goole, East Yorkshire, was convicted of obtaining the £1 million payment by deception, but cleared of conspiracy to defraud between January 1, 2006, and March 30, 2007. Retired Dolan, of Philip Lane, Tottenham, north London, was also cleared of the conspiracy charge.

The pair's solicitor Conn Farrell, 57, who was accused of lending a "veneer of legitimacy" to the scam, was cleared of the conspiracy charge on Thursday after he told the jury he was simply acting on his clients' instructions.

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