A “relentless fraudster” who pocketed £2.3million in a cold-calling scam that saw elderly people lose their retirement funds has been jailed for nine years. Conman Clint Canning and his wife Eleise Wallace lived a “lavish lifestyle” enjoying luxury holidays and buying expensive watches, Southwark Crown Court heard.
Now they face losing their £1m farmhouse near Chelmsford, Essex, the court heard, as it is about to be repossessed. Canning, 45, convinced his victims to place bets on company share or asset prices with the false promise of big returns if they guessed correctly.
The practice is now illegal, but was allowed at the time of the 2014 fraud. Canning, originally from Dublin, was convicted of conspiracy to defraud while Wallace, 37, was acquitted of that charge, but found guilty of laundering £900,000 of the ill-gotten gains.
