A fraudster lied to a woman that he was an American attorney and successful businessman who could make her money by investing her funds in the stock market. She transferred him £8,500 in instalments which he pocketed and spent.
Rodney Roberts, 37, of Cardiff, befriended his victim in July 2021 using the alias Paul Smith and convinced her into sending him thousands of pounds while promising her there would be no losses and she was set to make significant sums of money in investments. He also went to the extent of showing the victim an app which purported to show where her money was going.
A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court heard the victim became suspicious in August and asked the defendant what was happening with her money. On August 14 she received a message from the defendant's girlfriend of an article from the Hackney Gazette which reported on Roberts' conviction for defrauding a single mother out of £24,000 in 2016.
