A former parachute regiment captain who was arrested at East Midlands Airport for trying to leave the country attempted to fool a retired businessman into handing over thousands of pounds. Leicester Crown Court was told the businessman had already been tricked out of £4m in a previous separate incident not involving the defendant, and was on the fraudster's 'sucker's list' of people who had been previously fooled and might be conned again.
Richard Templeton, 61, of no fixed address has been jailed for two years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to make false representations between April 2018 and January 2019. Templeton contacted the victim using a fake name to pose as a financial consultant, with Templeton himself having 17 years of experience as a stockbroker since leaving the army.
He gave the "desperate" businessman a story about finding his missing millions in a hedge fund in Hong Kong, which was a completely bogus tale, reports Leicestershire Live. Templeton claimed he could recoup the missing £4m, with profits, for an upfront release fee of $72,000, which is around £57,500.
