The £1m swindler

A conman has left pensioners destitute after luring them into a £1 million get-rich-quick scam.

Michael Clark, 66, lived the high life with the money he fleeced from unsuspecting investors.

Along with an accomplice, he persuaded people approaching retirement age to remortgage their homes, in some cases for more than £100,000.

He convinced them the cash would be invested in a high-yield scheme offering returns of five per cent a month.

Based in a dingy and chaotic office above a bakery in Kent, Clark also dabbled in films - at one stage laundering his victims' cash by investing in low-budget movies in the United States.

In reality, Clark was using the money to fund a lavish lifestyle that included expensive cars and a mistress in America. At one point he was spending £10,000 a month.

The scam has brought misery to hard-working people who hoped the investment scheme would provide a boost to their pensions.

Over an 18-month period to May 2002, police estimate Clark took about £1 million from 15 victims.

Acting Detective Inspector Dave Manley, from the City of London Police's fraud squad, said: "He had no financial experience or qualifications whatsoever.

"He's basically a nice guy and wellspoken. You can't help but like him - but he is totally amoral.

"He managed to persuade people to join the scheme and, once he got people on board, that became a powerful tool for persuading others to join."

The vehicles for his fraud were Triple A Finance and Millennium Mortgages (1999) Ltd, of which he is the sole director. He printed business cards with the slogan "Does your bank offer you five per cent interest a month? Well mine does!"

Clark claimed this high rate of return came from United States governmentbonds, but all investors had to sign a secrecy agreement.

Investors were told the scheme paid such high rates of interest to allow the US authorities to raise funds quickly.

The conman entered an agreement with broker Brunel Mortgages Ltd, which arranged for the victims' property to be refinanced with self-certification mortgages.

They would receive a statement showing how their investment was performing and cash to meet their mortgage payments.

When the mortgage company became suspicious of Clarke's activities they pulled out of any direct dealings with him. At this stage, accomplice Allan Butt, 59, persuaded investors to lie on their mortgage applications to Brunel about what the cash was to be used for.

The company assisted the police in bringing the pair to justice. Clark, from Beckenham, was caught trying to move about half of the money he swindled to a Swiss bank account.

He confessed his scam to police at the time of his arrest in May 2002 and was last week sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to fraudulent trading.

Butt, from Erith, Kent, was convicted of dishonestly obtaining money through deception for Clark and was jailed for a year.