Due to a boiler room scam, that has defrauded 193 victims of £7.5m through a scheme selling land at inflated prices, four men have been jailed.
Following an investigation by City of London Police, the four men were sentenced.
After reporting restrictions are lifted the details of the case can be released to the public.
Originally named Paramount Land, the boiler room was set up in 2008 by James Byrne in hand with numerous umbrella companies to move money around.
Sam Exall and Michael Foran were the directors and assisted in the running of the procedure, the sales calls were made to the victims from Max Jefferys.
The boiler room targets were vulnerable people, particularly the elderly.
There tactics included cold-calling them and using high stress strategies to invest in the plots of land.
Paramount Land bought agricultural land on top of selling it for more than it could be worth, it also sold land it did not own in the first place.
The investors were told that if they are to get their money back, they must invest more so that a conglomerate could buy up their portfolio.
The company expected to buy up the investments did not exist.
Thus, James Byrne was sentenced to five years in prison for the crime of conspiracy to commit fraud, as well as six years’ consecutive imprisonment for a separate fraud investigated by the Metropolitan Police.
Sam Exall received a four-year sentence years in prison for conspiracy to commit fraud.
Michael Foran and Max Jefferys received an 18-month sentence for the same charge.
Sergeant Marcus McInerney from the City of London Police detective says:
“These defendants caused intense misery for their victims. They used the money to enjoy lavish and extravagant lifestyles leaving their victims destitute. The nasty selling techniques which ultimately intimidated and deceived victims and forced them to part with their hard-earned money were an added humiliation. Through the asset recovery procedure, we will now work to recover as much of their ill-gotten gains as possible, to ensure they do not benefit from their offending and in order to achieve compensation for the victims.”
The investigation is being continued of the boiler room continues.
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