An accountant already convicted of stealing £650,000 has admitted forging documents in an attempt to hide more thefts.
Paul Deighton, of Main Road, Santon, was due to be sentenced at the Court of General Gaol Delivery on Monday (July 15) but he was arrested again on Saturday (July 13).
It was discovered that, while on bail, the 52-year-old had sent a letter to a UK investor pretending that he was a Manx advocate as he tried to conceal additional thefts of US $52,591 and 12,425 Euros.
Prosecutor James Robinson told the court on Tuesday how the latest complainant contacted police after looking for the bogus advocate on the Isle of Man Law Society website.
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He had received a letter attached to an email from a ’David Davidson’ of Willow and Davidson, whose address was shown on headed paper as Hill Street, Douglas.
In the letter, Deighton told his investor that the dollar and euro amounts were under police arrest so could not be paid to him. But the company and advocate were fictitious.
Deighton was arrested and admitted two counts of theft as well as one offence under the Forgery Act.
He admitted forging the letter saying he was hoping to stave off a further complaint as he was struggling to deal with the current complainants. This comes after we reported in May how Deighton had stolen from various clients while doing work for them via Haven Administration.
The accountant was said to have been running a Ponzi scheme, a fraudulent investment scam which promises high rates of return with little risk to investors.
A Ponzi scheme generates returns for early investors by acquiring new investors. This is similar to a pyramid scheme in that both are based on using new investors’ funds to pay earlier backers.
At that time, Deighton admitted thefts including £110,638.39 from an electrical services company, £84,914.19 from a building firm, and sums of up to £130,000 from individuals.
He was committed to the Court of General Gaol Delivery for sentencing but that has now been postponed to take into account the new offences.
Deighton was committed to the higher court of the latest offences and will appear there on July 29. No bail application was made and he was remanded in custody.