Conman sent to prison for £350,000 scam
ADISGRACED fraudster who conned people out of their life savings through an elaborate financial scam has been jailed.
Peter Andrew Stanley, 46, defrauded his victims out of a whopping £350,000 through his bogus private investors scheme.
The conman set up ‘ponzi schemes’, where he would invite people to invest in property and pay them a healthy interest rate on their investment. Instead, he actually used the majority of the money given to him to repay interest and loans he owed back to other investors.
The frauds came to light when he was made bankrupt, and the Insolvency Service uncovered the extent of his crimes.
Stanley of Broomfield Road, Heaton Moor, pleaded guilty to 16 counts of fraud worth in excess of £350,000 and was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court to two years and eight months.
Det Con John Lonsdale from GMP’s Fraud Investigation Team said: “Peter Stanley told lies in order to get people to invest in his scheme, he promised them a high rate of interest when savers with banks were receiving very low returns on their investments.
“Having a property business separate from this scheme gave his fraudulent private investors scheme some credibility, and this was one of the main reasons people invested with him.
“Had the investigators at the insolvency service not seen the criminality and referred it through to GMP, Stanley would have got away with his deception. He has now been sent to prison and will have time there to reflect on what he has done.”
Jane Andrews, deputy official receiver at the Insolvency Service, said: “As a result of his 2011 bankruptcy, Mr Stanley’s affairs were subject to investigation by the Insolvency Service.
“The investment scheme was funded entirely by investments from individual savers, some of whom entrusted him with their life savings. Eventually the official receiver referred suspected criminal activity to the Greater Manchester Economic Crime Unit.
“The outcome of the Official Receiver’s investigations and co-operation with the police illustrate the invaluable work undertaken by the Insolvency Service in its regulatory role and reinforces the adage, if something looks to good to be true, it probably is.”