Tinder conman jailed
Fraudster posing as a millionaire tricked ‘date’ he met on app out of over £140,000
A FRAUDSTER who conned a businesswoman he met on dating app Tinder out of £141,500 was jailed for four-and-a-half years yesterday.
Richard Dexter, 38, convinced his victim Amrita Sebastian that he was a multi-millionaire with ‘private jets’ who was ‘involved in Hollywood studios’ and bought a hot air balloon ‘just because he could’.
The conman claimed to be a successful businessman worth £6.8million and convinced Miss Sebastian to invest in a biopharmaceutical technology deal that would make her a fortune. He duped the Dubai-based executive into sending him the £141,500 in a series of payments – even spinning his ‘fanciful’ lies while she was seriously ill in hospital.
The father of two spent her money on high living, including paying £15,000 to a classic car company, and paying off debts.
They met via the dating app in August 2015. Over the course of 15 months, she made a series of payments, some as large as £68,000. By the end of 2016, when his finances were in ‘dire straits’, Dexter convinced her to send him a final £5,500.
Miss Sebastian said: ‘Because he had so much of my money already I felt trapped to keep him onside and I felt the £5,500 was a small loan.’ After tricking her into handing over the money he came up with ‘excuses’ to delay repayment, Portsmouth Crown Court heard. When Miss Sebastian – a millionaire in her own right – pleaded to have her investment returned he lied about closing a deal with the US conglomerate 3M that he said would earn her £1.8million.
Eventually she reported him to police in April 2017. Dexter, of Southsea, Hampshire, previously pleaded guilty to seven counts of fraud and was convicted at trial of a charge of possession of articles for use in fraud and a count of perverting the course of justice.
Described as ‘bright, charming and well-educated’, Dexter told the court: ‘I am very, very sorry to the point I think about it every day, from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep. I can’t justify myself or
‘Little sign of any remorse’
what I did.’ John Lucas, defending, asked the judge not to jail Dexter.
‘He got himself into a pickle and was investing Bitcoin unsuccessfully,’ said Mr Lucas. He said he ‘made a big error of judgment’ and ‘will not offend again’.
But jailing him, Judge Timothy Mousley QC told Dexter: ‘There is little sign of any remorse and certainly, in my judgment, no sign of genuine remorse. You never spared a thought for her, you knew about her state of health but continued to take her money from her.
‘Dishonesty is a feature of your character, it’s profound and you are someone who shows no hesitation in resorting to lies with an ease that is almost breathtaking.’ A hearing will be held in April to determine how the money can be repaid. Dexter claims to hold ‘just over £200,000 in cryptocurrency assets’.
Outside court Detective Constable Victoria Cobley of Hampshire Police said: ‘This was a very complex investigation which highlighted the sophisticated, calculated and deceitful manner of Dexter’s actions in order to extract a substantial sum of money from the victim.’
She said the ‘web of lies and deceit’ spun by Dexter will have had a significant ‘psychological and physical’ impact on his victim who helped bring him to justice.