A fraudster who duped more than 8,000 people into investing in celebrity-backed luxury Caribbean holiday resorts in a £226 million scam has been jailed for 12 years. David Ames, 70, of Basildon, Essex, enriched himself and his family to the tune of £6.2 million, paying his wife and son £10,000 a month, while thousands of victims lost their pensions and life savings.
He convinced more than 8,000 people to invest in the Harlequin Group – a hotel and resorts development venture endorsed by celebrities and politicians, including the prime ministers of Barbados, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines. Backed by Liverpool Football Club, the project used international sporting figures, including South African golfer Gary Player, tennis star Pat Cash and Wales rugby coach Rob Howley, in promotional material.
Former footballers Andy Townsend, John Barnes and David Fairclough, cricketers Ronni Irani and Martin Bicknell, and Location, Location, Location presenter Phil Spencer also provided endorsements. More than 8,200 units, including villas and hotel rooms, were sold in seven locations in the Caribbean and Brazil but only 176 were ever built at one resort in Buccament Bay, St Vincent.
