Man jailed for using fake alias to attempt to scam elderly man out of £67,000

A man has been jailed for two years for attempting to scam an elderly man into handing over £67,000 to release £4 million he had already lost to fraud.

Richard Templeton, 61, of Alicante, Spain, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and was jailed for two years at Leicester Crown Court on 1 June 2022.

Detective Constable Jamie Howden, from the City of London Police, said:

“Templeton posed as someone else in a cold-hearted, feeble attempt to lure the victim into a serious financial loss, knowing he’d already been significantly defrauded, causing a life changing turn of events.

“The victim was targeted due to his age and financial circumstances and this case acts as a sad reminder to us all of the lengths people will go through to attempt to destroy the lives of others.

“I hope that the conviction in this case can offer some reassurance and some closure to the victim and raise awareness of this type of fraud to others.”

The victim, an 86-year-old man, had previously been scammed into investing £4 million in 2016 and 2018 into wealth management companies. His early investments gave him modest returns and he was encouraged to invest larger sums before the people he had been contacted by disappeared.

The victim was contacted in 2018 by Templeton, who claimed his name was Richard Armstrong and that he worked for a company called Bradley Consulting Group.

Templeton built a rapport with the victim and said that he could release his previously invested money, which he claimed was in a hedge fund in Hong Kong, but it would incur penalty and late payment charges of £67,000.

Thankfully the victim did not hand over any money as officers were able to step in.

During the investigation, it was discovered that Templeton was living in Spain but in December 2021, he travelled to the UK to visit family. On 30 December 2021, Templeton was arrested by City of London Police officers as he tried to board a flight at East Midlands Airport to Alicante, where he had been residing.

During his police interview, Templeton denied all knowledge of the fraud and said that he had never used any aliases, including that of Richard Armstrong. He also told officers that he thought someone had set him up.

Templeton was charged and remanded in custody the day after he was arrested. He initially pleaded not guilty, but three days before his trial was due to commence, he changed his plea to guilty.