Man Jailed: Ritz Hotel Scheme

Have you ever the heard the one about the guy who tried to sell the Brooklyn Bridge? Well in London this really happened, as a man was just jailed and found guilty of a scheme to sell the Ritz Hotel, despite not being an owner of the landmark building at all.

Said the judge, "You were found guilty by a jury of this elaborate and outrageous scam, purporting to sell the Ritz Hotel, thereby obtaining £1m from your victim."

The scam was based on convincing wealthy people that he was closely affiliated with the Barclay Brothers, who are the controllers of the hotel. This was truly a financial scheme that would make Bernie Madoff and his Wall Street crook colleagues proud.

Man Jailed: Ritz Hotel Scheme
bbc

A jobless lorry driver who pulled off an "elaborate and outrageous scam" to sell London's Ritz Hotel for £250m has been jailed for five years. Anthony Lee, 49, of Beal, North Yorkshire, found victims who were interested in the hotel in Piccadilly and duped them into handing over £1m. He was convicted earlier this month of obtaining the money by deception. Southwark Crown Court heard that he pretended to be a close friend of the hotel owners, the Barclay brothers.

man jailed ritz hotel