X Factor star Ella’s father faces jail for £4.7m fraud
His firm took money but told investors Mafia stole the cash
THE father of X Factor star Ella Henderson is facing up to 10 years in jail after conning wealthy investors in a £4.7million get-rich-quick scheme.
Sean Henderson was convicted of one count of conspiracy to defraud and one count of VAT fraud over the course of three trials.
Henderson was heavily involved in his daughter’s career after she finished sixth in the 2012 X Factor finals.
Ella, whose grandfather was Scottish, was then signed by Simon Cowell’s label and her debut album, Chapter One, reached No1.
She went on to support Take That on a UK tour in 2015 and is currently writing a new album.
Ella, 21, was named in court as the person who met police when they raided her father’s £600,000 home Tetney Manor, Lincolnshire, in 2013.
Her dad, 51, owned sales and marketing firm Crystal Power with his Irish partner Stephen Keegan.
Multi-millionaires were told money they invested would gain interest but when they received next to nothing, they were sent a series of excuses including claims the Mafia had stolen the money.
In his first trial in May 2016, Henderson was found guilty at Sheffield Crown Court of conspiring to defraud between October 2009 and November 2010.
Keegan, 45, of Wimborne, Dorset, admitted guilt and was jailed for three years and nine months in April.
Henderson was convicted of evading VAT between June and December 2007, at a second trial last October.
He was yesterday cleared of fraud in 2011 at the third trial. Reporting restrictions banning the naming of Ella were then lifted. Her dad was released on bail and will be sentenced on November 17.
Keep Dundee bonnie
Businesses in Dundee have united against flytipping and the build-up of rubbish by signing up to Zero Waste Scotland’s litter prevention action plan.