Bogus laird in £1.6m swindle is jailed
He claimed to be clan chief to fool US victims
A CONMAN who posed as a Scots lord to dupe investors in a US-based £1.6million fraud has been jailed for four years.
Colin Chisholm, described as ‘living in a fantasy world’ by genuine clan leaders, used his fake persona to persuade investors to put money into a bogus satellite TV network.
He convinced 38 investors to plough funds into the scheme then stole the money to support his lavish lifestyle.
Chisholm, 65, owned a £1million luxury yacht and lived with his wife ‘Lady’ Andrea in a lakeside mansion. He also had a beach-side home in Florida and £2million in bank accounts.
He pleaded guilty to mail fraud in January and this week US District Judge John Tunheim jailed him for four years at a court in Minnesota. He was also ordered to repay the money to his victims.
The court heard that Chisholm had solicited funds from investors for the ‘Caribbean Television Network’ since 2004.
He told them that the company was on the verge of securing up to £80million in funding to begin broadcasting and that their investment would be used as interim financing.
As well as claiming to be a Scottish chieftain of Clan Chisholm, he said he had close personal ties to members of the family of former president George Bush.
The fraudster also told investors that he participated in the development and launch of CNN and CNN Headline News, including writing the business plan for CNN.
Mike Rothman, of the Minnesota Department of Commerce fraud bureau, which conducted the investigation, said: ‘Colin Chisholm ripped off people with a long trail of lies about himself and his fraudulent investments.
‘Chisholm lied to prospective investors about his personal and professional background. But most damaging for his victims, he lied about what he was doing with the money they had entrusted to him.’
Chisholm, who called himself Colin Chisholm III of Struy and insisted on being addressed as ‘Lord’, had been sentenced to 21 months in prison in 2015 following a welfare benefits fraud conducted with his wife.
Over a seven-year period, the couple claimed up to £150,000 in benefits, including medical aid and food stamps, while living in luxury on their yacht.
Mrs Chisholm, 56, was jailed for a year and a day in August 2014 after pleading guilty to wrongly obtaining welfare payments.
The pair had fled the Bahamas as business investigators closed in and headed for the US with their son, who was seven at the time, and their pet dog.
On arrival, they applied for benefits to which they were not entitled, first in Minnesota and then in Florida.
Speaking previously about Chisholm’s aristocrat claims, Duncan Chisholm, a past president of the Clan Chisholm Society and a kilt-maker in Inverness, said: ‘Colin does not have any title or claim to be Lord Chisholm, nor indeed does any such title exist.
‘We had heard he was using the title and the society historian wrote to him asking him not to use the bogus title.
‘He was also told that Lord Lovat of the Fraser clan had ownership and title over the Struy land which neighbours the Chisholm castle of Erchless.’
‘A long trail of lies about himself’