Bogus professor jailed over £880k investment scam

A fraudster who posed as an Oxford professor while taking more than £880,000 from investors to fund his "extravagant lifestyle" has been jailed.

Neil Stafford was a company director when he told a string of lies to lure his victims into handing over their money for a series of bogus schemes between 2011 and 2014.

The 60-year-old was found guilty of seven counts of fraud by false representation following a trial at Oxford Crown Court.

He was jailed for nine years and disqualified from being a director for 15 years.

Thames Valley Police said Stafford told victims he was a millionaire graduate of both Oxford and Cambridge universities and that he had business relationships with large blue chip firms and banks .

He also falsely told them his company was a leading supplier of pharmaceuticals and medical products, owning hospitals and primary care centres.

Police said Stafford, of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, made the false claims - including that he was an Oxford University professor - to convince people to invest in his companies, while also offering a scheme he described as "Friends and Family".

Methods of investment into his companies varied between victims, but included company shares and oil and gas deals.

In total, seven victims handed him £882,000, which police said was "not invested as intended" and instead "spent on Stafford's extravagant lifestyle".

Det Con Neil Rudge said Stafford had "exploited the trust placed in him" by victims "all for his own personal gain".

"I hope the outcome of Stafford's sentencing reassures that we take fraud extremely seriously," he added.

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