Man jailed for selling ‘Ritz Hotel’ for 250 million pounds
July 28th, 2010 - 8:42 pm ICT by Aishwarya BhattLondon, July 28 (THAINDIAN NEWS) An unemployed British man who tried to reach a deal to sell the Ritz Hotel in London for £250 million has been convicted of the crime and sentenced to a 5-year prison term.
The 49-year-old man - Anthony Lee who lives in Beal, North Yorkshire looked for potential buyers in Piccadilly Square and deceived them into paying him more than £1 million.
He was found guilty earlier in July for obtaining money under false pretences. Judge Stephen Robbins said that, “You were found guilty by a jury of this elaborate and outrageous scam, purporting to sell the Ritz Hotel, thereby obtaining £1m from your victim.”
According to information available to the Southwark Crown Court, the accused faked close ties with the hotel’s owners - the Barclay brothers. However in reality he is a jobless lorry driver.
The presiding judge Stephen Robbins said the jury had found him culpable of scamming victims into believing that he was selling the hotel and extorted £1m from the purported buyer.
Lee received the payment after deceiving Terence Collins, the interested buyer that the billionaire Barclay brothers were his “close friends and associates” and he was selling the hotel on their behalf.
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Tags: 1m, barclay brothers, beal, billionaire, british man, close friends, close ties, false pretences, hotel in london, interested buyer, lorry driver, north yorkshire, piccadilly square, presiding judge, prison term, ritz hotel in london, southwark crown court, stephen robbins, terence, yorkshire