Former double-glazing salesman David Ames, 70, enriched himself and his family by £6.2million, paying his wife and son £10,000 a month, while thousands of victims lost their pensions and savings.
The Serious Fraud Office said it persuaded more than 8,000 people to invest in the Harlequin Group – a hotel and resort development venture backed by celebrities and politicians, including the prime ministers of Barbados, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Ames’ idea was to build the cottages with their deposits – but the cash was spent on agents and clever advertising featuring Wimbledon winner Pat Cash, ex-Chelsea star Andy Townsend and TV guru Phil Spencer.
A proposed golf course at the Marquis Estate in St. Lucia has been endorsed by South African sports legend Gary Player.
Mr. Spencer said he had invested in one of the company’s properties in a promotional video, and Townsend was once the face of Ames’ company on its website.
They had absolutely no idea that Ames was running a huge con from a warehouse in Basildon, Essex, and there is no indication that any of the stars who endorsed or promoted the business were involved in any alleged wrongdoing.
The total value of planned resorts in St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Barbados, the Dominican Republic and another in Brazil was £1.4 billion.
But as the scam collapsed, Ames was selling properties he didn’t even have planning permission for on land he didn’t own.
Former double-glazing salesman David Ames, 70, (pictured at Southwark Crown Court today) pocketed millions by getting savers and pensioners to buy “off-the-plan” properties.
The Serious Fraud Office said it persuaded more than 8,000 people to invest in the Harlequin Group – a hotel and resort development venture backed by celebrities and politicians, including the prime ministers of Barbados, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines
The total value of planned resorts in St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Barbados, the Dominican Republic and another in Brazil was £1.4 billion. But as the scam collapsed, Ames was selling properties he didn’t even have planning permission for on land he didn’t own. Photo: An undeveloped Harlequin property in St. Vincent
Investors lost £398m from their savings and pensions between 2006 and 2015, the Prospero House tribunal heard.
Victims believed they had a safe property investment, but with a funding shortfall of £1.2bn by 2012 – seven years after Ames launched the scheme – investors were exposed to almost a 100 per cent risk of loss.
Ames denied two charges of fraud by abuse of position but was found guilty of both charges by a jury at Prospero House Nightingale Court on Wednesday.
Ames, who owns a five-bedroom detached house worth more than £2 million in rural Essex, was convicted of three counts of fraud by abuse of position while he was head of his company Harlequin Management Services South East Limited (HMSSE).
He made £6.2m in shares and dividends for himself and his family in the scam.
Ames planned developments at 15 sites, but work only took place on a renovated hotel in St. Lucia and the Buccament Bay development in St. Vincent.
About 9,000 units were sold, but only 200 were ever built at Buccament Bay.
Prosecutor Michael Bowes earlier told jurors: “The fraud was perpetrated by David Ames by inducing investors to enter into contracts to buy these off-plan properties.
“The true state of affairs in relation to these properties was to expose these investors to loss or risk of loss in order to make a profit for him or his family.
“He gave them nothing in return, they lost all their money.”
By 2011 it was clear that Ames’ business plan was unworkable, but he sold thousands more units and plowed new investor money into Buccament Bay, knowing the development was a scam.
Pictured: David Ames with Andy Townsend. There is no indication that any of the stars who endorsed or promoted the business have been involved in any alleged wrongdoing
Investors had to pay 30 per cent of the property’s purchase price to secure a unit and were promised annual rental income of £20,000 a year.
He had to sell three units to get the money to build one and began trading properties on land he did not own and did not have a building permit in Buccament Bay.
Ames boasted in its sales statement that “Harlequin Property is a company you can trust”.
But Mr Bowes said: “The reality, of course, was very different. The business model, the resort that was never built, all that money going down and very little to show for it, it was all held up by endless sales and the commitment would never be kept.”
Ames tried to attract more deposits by promising a fantastic 70% mortgage.
“That 70 percent mortgage was not available. How could David Ames have honestly let it go? He knew it just wasn’t true,” Mr Bowes said.
They were like “come on, it’s great, we’ll look after you!”
“It was a deliberate lie to lure investors.”
If potential investors had asked for more information about the mortgage provider, they would have found it didn’t exist.”
Ames boasted in its sales statement that “Harlequin Property is a company you can trust”. Pictured: A Harlequin ad with Andy Townsend
Mr Bowes added: ‘Of course, David Ames understood. It’s obvious it’s just spiraling out of control. He was always out of control.’
Sarah Tricker, accounts manager at HMSSE said she had to field dozens of calls from interested investors asking when their properties would actually be built.
At one stage they were sent a letter saying there was a problem with a bank that was beyond their control.
Mr Bowes asked: “Was there really a problem with the bank?”
Ms. Tricker replied, “No.”
‘What was the PROBLEM?’ asked Mr. Bowes.
“There was no money,” Ms. Tricker said.
Mrs Tricker had actually tried to buy a property in Buccament Bay herself – but then discovered that the 70% mortgage offered by the company did not actually exist
Michael Slade, a former HMSSE employee who worked in procurement, said he visited a resort in St Vincent but the situation was “pretty chaotic”.
“When we got to the construction site, it was very much a construction site, there wasn’t much activity there. It was very messy.’
Mr Slade said a surveyor’s report on the construction proved “quite damning”.
He said: “I thought the value of the work completed in the inspector’s report was shockingly low. I was stunned.
“I put it down to a lot of waste and mismanagement. The site itself had many restoration problems and poor construction. The surveyor’s report was quite damning.’
Ames, of Bluewell Wood, Brock Hill, Runwell, Essex, pleaded not guilty but was found guilty of two counts of fraud by abuse of position by a unanimous jury. He will be sentenced at a date to be fixed at Southwark Crown Court (pictured)
Mr Slade asked to see the contract between contractors and builders and was given a two-page document which simply listed the types of buildings to be built.
“There were no real terms about how they would be built or the cost. It was not a construction contract.’
Ames was interviewed by police twice, first in 2013 and then in December 2015.
He denied that he had acted in any way dishonestly and continued to promote Harlequin’s business model as a viable business in which he believed.
Ames maintained that he always put the interests of his investors first throughout Harlequin’s business.
He also told investigators that he relied throughout on advice from the professionals he employed.
Ames, who did not give evidence, was supported throughout the nine-week trial by his wife Carol Ann.
Both were declared bankrupt at Southend County Court in December 2018 after 24 creditors made applications to the court.
In 2014 their son Matthew Ames was jailed for three years and four months for a £1.6m Ponzi scheme after he set up bogus carbon credit and teak tree investment schemes.
Ames, of Bluewell Wood, Brock Hill, Runwell, Essex, pleaded not guilty but was found guilty of two counts of fraud by abuse of position by a unanimous jury.
He will be sentenced at a date to be fixed at Southwark Crown Court.
Judge Christopher Hehir said “Inevitably there will be a long prison sentence.”
Ames hung his head in shame as the jury returned their verdict.
SFO director Lisa Osofsky said: “David Ames committed fraud on a massive scale, knowingly exposing thousands of UK investors to losses totaling hundreds of millions of pounds.
“Diligent SFO investigators reviewed millions of documents, traced over 8,000 investor statements and called more than 25 witnesses, to reveal the full extent of Ames’ fraud.”
