Shameless fraudster tricked 180 people into buying fake cruises with sick tactic

Cruise conman Richard Lester has contiguous been jailed for 5 years aft being recovered blameworthy of making £400,000 by selling fake cruises successful a cruel Ponzi-style strategy connected a planetary scale

A scammer who conned 'cruise customers' retired of much than £400,000 has contiguous been sentenced to five years.

Richard Lester, a shameless fraudster who referred to himself arsenic a 'lord', managed to dupe much than 180 individuals from each implicit the satellite into believing they were purchasing cruise miles via his Cruisemiles website. Victims of the Ponzi-style scam were bought done agents and exchanged for discounted cruises done Lester's fraudulent website. However, nary cruises were ever booked for them.

When they turned up astatine the ports, nary uncertainty excited astir their adventures astatine sea, the would-be travellers were turned distant by cruise operators earlier adjacent getting a accidental to board. On December 17, Lester was convicted unanimously of fraudulent trading and concealing transgression property.

On apical of his situation sentence, gambling addict Lester, who “lived the precocious life” connected his fraudulent earnings, has besides been disqualified from acting arsenic the manager of immoderate institution for the adjacent 9 years. Passing sentence, Judge Mills told Lester: “You not lone took from these individuals and caused them distress, frustration, uncertainty, disappointment and fiscal nonaccomplishment but you sought to gaslight them. Their upset was seemingly their fault, starring astatine slightest immoderate to question their ain actions erstwhile each of the clip this was down to you.”

Some of Lester's victims had booked cruises for peculiar day celebrations oregon arsenic wedding gifts, the justice told the court. He continued: “You were a nonrecreational gambler, gambling successful poker tournaments and large poker tournaments, winning important amounts of money, surviving the precocious beingness successful Las Vegas and elsewhere.”

Lester ran Cruise Direct UK Ltd from 2009 to 2014. This was a strategy whereby radical would acquisition cruise vouchers up to 3 years successful advance, with the currency spent past utilized to wage for customers embarking connected earlier cruises who had purchased vouchers successful the aforesaid manner.

In a akin vein to aerial miles, customers could present acquisition miles to beryllium exchanged for cruise trips - oregon truthful they thought. Many customers recovered the fig of miles needed to publication these cruises would rapidly summation astatine regular intervals.

Through his business, Lester, who would "brag" astir his "lavish lifestyle", offered customers the accidental to bargain cruises astatine chopped terms rates. He would conscionable with aboriginal victims connected cruises, and would adjacent enlistee immoderate arsenic agents for his business.

At first, immoderate customers successfully booked and sailed connected cruises and the institution adjacent received a “prestigious World Travel Award” successful 2012. However, galore aboriginal received mendacious confirmations for cruises that had ne'er really been booked.

Money from caller customers was utilized for earlier customers, and was besides utilized to backmost Lester’s extravagent lifestyle, gambling wont and different concern ventures. Although customers did person refunds aft cancellations, they had to bargain much miles owed to ostentation successful the fig of miles needed to bargain a cruise. Once the institution yet stopped trading, customers were near with worthless miles worthy hundreds oregon adjacent thousands of pounds.

Lester's agents, who themselves had sunk thousands of pounds worthy of miles, would gain commissions by selling much miles to unsuspecting customers, near trapped with nary mode of reclaiming their ain mislaid cash. Eventually, aggrieved victims started to study the scam, and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau contacted Essex Police successful July 2013.

Investigators discovered that Lester had stolen £406,856.39 implicit a three-year period, with the 184 victims coming from the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, France, Germany and Japan. In a bid to evade justice, Lester utilized assorted aliases, going by Henry Lester, Les Richards, Lord Lester, Richie Lescovitch and Barry Williams. Ultimately however, helium was brought to justice.

At the clip of Lester's conviction, PC Leanne Smith said: “This has been a ample and analyzable investigation, with officers gathering dozens of statements from victims. I’d similar to convey our Detective Simon Gray, who has since joined City of London Police, and our barristers Andrew Evans and Sophia Kerridge, for their committedness to this case.

“Securing justness for these victims meant scouring respective slope accounts to hint precisely wherever their wealth has gone. All their wealth leads backmost to Lester. His greed near hundreds of radical thousands of pounds retired of pocket. They were tricked into committing much and much wealth to his scheme, unaware that wealth was going straight into Lester’s pocket.

“Many of the cruise companies they were expecting to vacation with had nary grounds they were ever owed connected committee their ships. Lester poured funds into a lavish manner helium bragged astir to the aforesaid victims’ helium defrauded.

“Money was frittered connected online poker websites and his different concern interests. He’s present been recovered blameworthy acknowledgment to the testimonies of those who wouldn’t judge his excuses, and we hold to perceive the judges' condemnation successful 2025.”

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