Fraud victims taken for a ride in £2.8m villa con
Here’s company boss Michael Nascimento caught on a souvenir photo during a staff outing to Thorpe Park in Surrey.
It was paid for with money stolen during his £2.8million investment fraud.
His cold callers sold shares in a business in Madeira, saying investors would make huge returns when the land it owned was developed into luxury villas with sea views.
In reality, the site was on a steep inland slope with no prospect of development and is currently used for growing potatoes.
Former bouncer Nascimento spent cash he raked in on private school fees, Arsenal VIP season tickets, and renting a detached house in posh Chislehurst, Greater London, for £43,000 a year. He used a string of companies to sell the shares, opening a new firm when one was shut down.
Morgan Forbes was followed by First Capital Wealth, Bishops of Mayfair, Wallberg Dillion Reid and Sterling Capital Corporation.
Nascimento, 41, was convicted of fraud and perverting the course of justice following a 51-day trial at Southwark Crown Court, London, and is due to be sentenced next week.
One victim told the court: “I’ve tried to forget about it for the last three years. Being here today brings it all back, what a fool I’ve been, and I have to live with that for the rest of my life.”
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) investigators described the operation as “slick, organised, professional” and said victims ranged from the vulnerable to “people who thought they would not fall for this sort of scam”.
The gang produced glossy sales brochures, used prestigious but fake London addresses, and even gave big potential investors a tour of their alleged site in Madeira.
“The victims are still dealing with the ramifications, many have had their lives ruined,” said FCA lawyer Alan May.
“It brings home the kind of people we are dealing with here.” Five of Nascimento’s accomplices were sentenced this week.
Senior salesman Charanjit Sandhu, 28, got five years six months.
Hugh Edwards, 36, and Stuart Rea, 50, both got three years nine months.
Ryan Parker, 25, was given two years suspended and Jeannine Lewis, 50, was jailed for two years and six months.
Lewis was Nascimento’s personal assistant and was caught on office CCTV standing on a desk hiding computer equipment in a suspended ceiling while the FCA raided another of the gang’s offices elsewhere in the same building.