A family ended up losing their home after they became victims of a cruel conman.
Raj Viswanathan has been jailed for four and half years for fleecing two people out of more than £400,000
Raj Viswanathan posed as a wealthy man who lived in a chalet in Corwen and had left London to get out of the rat race.
He gave the appearance of living a luxurious life-style and claimed he had £12.4 million in the bank.
But today Viswanathan was jailed for four and a half years after a court heard how he fleeced two victims out of more than £400,000 which he frittered away on drink and drugs.
One victim, John Stuart Todd of Hafotty Fawr, Corwen, lost money and his home and a second victim from Cambridge lost a large inheritance and was left bankrupt.
Proceedings under The Proceeds of Crime Act will now take place although Judge Rhys Rowlands said it was clear Viswanathan, 43, of Clavering Road in London, did not have “a penny piece”.
The judge told him: “It is quite plain to me that you are a devious and thoroughly dishonest, mean man determined to take money from innocent victims who have been left with great losses after you frittered away thousands of pounds of their money. It is hard to image a worse case in terms of the effect upon the victims than this case.”
Prosecuting barrister Sion ap Mihangel told Mold Crown Court Viswanathan befriended the victims under the pretext that he was a wealthy investor: “The reality was quite different – this defendant was nothing more than a confidence trickster.”
Viswanathan admitted two fraud charges - the first involved Mr Todd from Corwen and the second on Ian Friend from Cambridge.
He spent four years from 2009 spinning a web of “elaborate lies” claiming he had millions in an exclusive Barclays investment account, which he was tied into until 2017.
Mr Friend paid out £145,000 to the conman while Mr Todd was duped into selling his home and paying Viswanathan around £245,000 on the basis that they would receive up to 20% interest on the money that they loaned him.
The house in Corwen which was home to Mr Todd, his wife and three children has since been sold.
Defending barrister Jonathan Austin said his client had no previous convictions and was on anti-psychotic medication. He was remorseful for what he had done.
Mr Todd read out his own victim impact statement to the court: “Before I was unfortunate enough to meet Raj Viswanathan, we – myself, my wife and three children – had a happy, secure and unstressful life.
“Now having been conned by a heartless, greedy, thieving psychopath our life is in ruins.
“Life is now very stressful and a financial struggle. Our quality of life has been shattered. Every day has become a struggle.”
The defendant, he said, had never worked in his life but ruined the lives of others.
Mr Todd left the court without commenting further.
Speaking after sentencing, Detective Constable Beverley Humphreys said: “This was a calculated crime in which the defendant groomed the victims over a period of four years. He purported to be a self-made millionaire who moved to North Wales to escape London, however in reality was found to be the complete opposite. He fled the area after the victims lost just over £400,000. This had a substantial impact on both victims, not only financially but emotionally too.”
see-http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/corwen-family-lose-home-after-11537911
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