Porsche fraud denied as accused sentenced

AFRAUDSTER scammed a woman he met on a dating website out of £3,000 by promising to repair and sell a luxury car for profit, a court heard.

Jonathan Sheller, 50, committed the ‘thoroughly mean deception’ after gaining the trust of his victim, Exeter Crown Court was told.

Instead of repairing and selling a Porsche car for profit he kept the money and broke off contact.

Sheller, who described himself in court as a volunteer campaign strategist for the Lib Dems, was given a community order by the judge and told to do unpaid work.

His sentence brings to an end a lengthy legal process with the offence itself dating back to 2017.

Sheller said he suffered with multiple health issues and disputed much of the prosecution evidence.

He had previously pleaded guilty to a single offence of fraud but when he came to be sentenced claimed he was innocent.

Prosecutor Mr Richard Crabb said Sheller had met his victim online and persuaded her to contribute £3,000 towards the purchase of a Porsche.

He would do some work on it and it would be sold for £10,000 – giving them each £5,000 and a £2,000 profit on the investment.

“He drew up a document supposedly evidencing the arrangement,” said Mr Crabb. “Suffice to say there was no car to show for it and no money.”

When the woman asked for payment, Sheller made excuses about his health and being in hospital.

Her money transfer was traced to the account of a friend of Sheller, who said he had no knowledge of it. The account was operated by Sheller.

When police got involved in July 2017 Sheller refused to say where the car was and said the money had been ‘absorbed into his cash flow’.

He agreed to pay it back, with the profit, within a month but the money was never returned, the court heard.

The defendant, from Exeter, represented himself at the sentencing hearing. “I didn’t do it,” he said.

He claimed to be in dispute with people in the public gallery and did not want to outline his mitigation in open court for fear it would be ‘tweeted’ about.

He said he had paid the victim her money back and never made a comment about absorbing it into his cash flow.

Before proceeding to sentence, Judge Peter Johnson refused an application for Sheller to change his plea from guilty to not guilty.

The judge referred to the long length of time the matter had taken to reach sentencing, how a previous trial date had been set and abandoned at the last minute, and how Sheller had previously assured the court he would seek legal representation.

Sheller told the court he had run co-operative car buying clubs and enjoyed doing up and restoring classic vehicles with the help of investment from others.

Judge Johnson said: “This was a thoroughly mean deception of a woman who trusted you.”

He said Sheller had shown no remorse. Sheller was given a 15-month community order and told to do 150 hours unpaid work with 20 rehabilitation days.