Man bought house and McLaren with £9m fraud cash

3 hours ago

Charis Scott-HolmEast Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

News image — Detectives at Humberside Police's economic crime unit spent four years investigating the case

Getty Images A stock image of a person at a laptop with several screens in the background displaying numbers and code. — Detectives at Humberside Police's economic crime unit spent four years investigating the case

A man defrauded more than 600 people across North Lincolnshire out of £9m to fund his extravagant lifestyle in what police called a "reckless" and "sophisticated" fraud scheme.

Officers said Declan Nowell, 31, of The Dell, Scunthorpe, used £1m in proceeds from a fraudulent investment company to buy a house, a McLaren sports car and designer clothing.

Nowell told potential investors he was investing their funds into foreign currency markets while instead operating a so-called Ponzi scheme using new investment funds to pay back initial investors.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud by abuse of position at Hull Crown Court on Friday and was released on bail pending his sentencing on 13 March.

Detectives from the force's economic crime unit began investigating in 2021 after receiving reports from people unable to withdraw their funds from Nowell's investment company Investing4You.

Humberside Police Police mugshot of a man with long, curly, unkempt, sandy-coloured hair tied back in a pony tail and a straggly ginger beard and moustache. He has a heavily tattooed neck and is wearing a white T-shirt. — Declan Nowell's initally sophisticated fraud scheme unravelled as it grew, police said

Leading the investigation, Det Con Paul Twidale said: "Nowell's actions were reckless; he made a calculated decision to repeatedly mislead his clients.

"Nowell enticed over 600 customers to invest with him, claiming lucrative returns could be generated through investing with his company which 'traded foreign currencies online', ultimately this was found out to be a lie."

The officer said only "a tiny fraction" of the £9m he was given by customers - an average of £15,000 each - had ever been invested by Nowell - and these had resulted in losses, not gains.

"This was not a legitimate company that simply failed, it was a sophisticated fraud from its inception that unravelled as the scheme grew," Twidale said.

Humberside Police reminded potential investors to always check the Financial Conduct Authority register to see if schemes are legitimate before depositing funds.

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