A charming fraudster has been jailed for over four years after conning a millionaire he met on Tinder out of £150,000.
Richard Dexter, 38, was handed four years and six months after fraudulently claiming he was a ‘successful businessman’ on the verge of the a ‘big windfall’ to swindle his lover.
Dexter duped Middle East-based executive Amrita Sebastian into sending him £141,500 in a series of payments saying they were for investments in biopharmaceutical technology
‘Well-educated and well-dressed’ Dexter claimed he had more than £4.2 million tied up in an investment account – but it was a ‘complete fiction’ and it was his friend’s account and had just 37p in.
The father of two reportedly spent Miss Sebastian’s money on ‘relatively high living’ – including paying £15,000 to a classic car company. He claimed international companies 3M and Pall Corp were interested in tech equipment he had the patents for and willing to sign on deals worth up to £12 million.
Pall and 3M have never had any contact with Dexter, the court heard. Dexter persuaded Miss Sebastian that he needed capital to start production of a piece of scientific equipment – a ‘Bioreactor Paddle’.
He told Miss Sebastian ‘she wouldn’t lose anything’ and that he would pay her £100,000 as interest.
