Champagne loving fraudster jailed for conning thousands

Con-man Frank 'Fizzy' Onyeachonam, from Canning Town, has been jailed for eight and a half years (Picture: National Crime Agency)

A con-man known as ‘Fizzy’ because of his love for high-end champagne defrauded elderly and vulnerable victims out of vast sums of money to fuel his luxury lifestyle.

Judge Poulet said Onyeachonam continued to offend following his arrest 'with an arrogance that is unbelievable' (Picture: National Crime Agency)

Frank Onyeachonam has been found guilty at the Old Bailey of ripping off dozens of victims for hundreds of thousands of pounds, and has been sentenced to serve eight years in jail.

The judge described the 38-year-old from Canning Town as showing ‘no remorse’ for his crimes which have ruined lives in the UK and America.

And after it was revealed he continued conning people after he was first arrested, Judge Pouelt said he had ‘an arrogance that is unbelievable’.

Starting in 2005 the fraud, which the National Crime Agency said was a variation on the traditional fake lottery scam, saw his victims encouraged to set up ‘legitimate’ businesses, with accompanying bank accounts.

The 38-year-old lived an extravagant lifestyle including a luxury apartment overlooking the River Thames (Picture: National Crime Agency)

They were then used to launder the proceeds of the fraud, meaning as a result some of them were themselves investigated by law enforcement.

After receiving a letter advising them they had won the Australian lottery they were persuaded to pay fees and taxes to receive their prize, often with further requests for more money to be sent.

Many took out high value loans against their potential lottery winnings, and as a result one lost £60,000 and her house, whilst another ran up debts of £90,000.

He was found with ‘sucker’ lists containing the names of more than 5,000 US citizens, along with bank details of more than 400 people.

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