Jailed, conman who swindled £ 500k from wealthy, older lover
A LOVE rat has been jailed for three years after grooming and swindling a wealthy older businesswoman out of more than half a million pounds.
Sam Whittingslow, 29, fleeced lover Jill Kelly, who was in her 50s, by persuading her to invest in a string of fake bonds schemes.
He then used Ms Kelly to gain access to her business colleagues and duped them out of £ 200,000.
Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester heard stockbrokers’ assistant Whittingslow created online “senior investment manager” alter egos who promised victims they would double their cash.
He was jailed for three years after a judge heard he blew their savings gambling and on foreign holidays.
The court heard Ms Kelly was a “successful businesswoman with substantial assets”.
Prosecutor Kate Hammond told how she was groomed after she started to meet up with Whittingslow.
Ms Hammond said: “It developed into a sexual relationship for a time.
“She was asked to lend him money which was repaid and Jill was invited to take out investments through his contacts, which she did.
“Jill was later contacted via email by an individual named Karen Wilson, who the defendant said was a work colleague.
“Between November 2017 and April 2018 ‘ Karen’ advised Jill on investments via email and during this period Jill agreed to purchase five highyield bonds.
Audacious
“Jill felt that she had become friends with Karen and trusted her although the two never actually met in person. Karen was in fact the defendant.”
Ms Kelly then unwittingly recommended Whittingslow to friends who lost money, including a father and daughter who invested more than £ 80,000.
Whittingslow, from Hyde, Greater Manchester, was eventually reported to police when investments failed to pay out on the maturity dates. He had forged letters from the Financial Conduct Authority and the Financial Ombudsman.
Police discovered that Whittingslow was paid a total of £ 775,600, of which only £ 96,941 was repaid under the guise of a return on investment.
Ms Kelly, who lost £ 551,300, told officers: “I feel like I have been groomed.
“He seems to take pleasure manipulating people.”
Whittingslow pleaded guilty to five charges of fraud between September 2017 and May 2019.
He was told by Judge Paul Lawton: “The scale of your fraud was both breathtaking and audacious. You knew Jill Kelly was a wealthy lady and persuaded her to take out several investments with you. You put her in touch with a work colleague who did not exist and ultimately she invested into bonds on the promise of significant returns.
“It is quite clear she had complete confidence in you and was completely under your influence.”
The judge added: “The total loss of £ 678,659 was a breathtaking amount of money.”
More than £ 414,000 that was frittered away in online casinos will be repaid to victims after an intervention by the Gambling Commission, the court heard.
Julian Goode, defending, said: “He is genuinely remorseful. He is intelligent, polite and from a good family. He accepts his offending was awful.”