A judge says that there must be a deterrent to stop criminals getting involved in the newly-legal medicinal cannabis business.

Deemster Graeme Cook was speaking after he jailed businessman Craig Carroll.

He told Carroll: ‘Up until last year you were a respected businessman.

‘However you decided, it seems around the end of 2020, to move into the medicinal cannabis market.

‘You put together a business plan and it looked quite rosy.

‘It seems that when you became aware that you had previous convictions that would prevent you obtaining a licence, you then decided you would alter a number of documents to disguise your identity.

‘Due diligence uncovered what could have been a huge fraud.

‘There was potential for embarrassment and public perceptions could only damage the industry that it is trying to put forward.

‘A deterrent is necessary so nobody else thinks about doing something of this nature.’

Carroll was jailed for four years last week.

The fraudster tried to get a potentially lucrative licence to produce and export medicinal cannabis on the island.

Carroll, of Harcroft Meadow, Douglas, submitted a falsified passport and bank statements to the island’s Gambling Supervision Commission.

The 40-year-old used Tippex to alter the documents, then photocopied them with fraudulent details on.

Carroll also submitted a 90 page business plan estimating that the venture would make £22 million over a three-year period.

He told police he did it to cover up previous criminal convictions in Scotland which would likely have made him ineligible for the licence.

Prosecuting advocate James Robinson said: ‘The defendant has taken deliberate and fraudulent steps to defraud the Gambling Supervision Commission which potentially could have caused great embarrassment to the island.

‘It was a sophisticated offence with a significant degree of planning.’

We previously reported how Carroll submitted application forms and ID documents to the Gambling Supervision Commission (GSC) in July 2021.

However, the handwriting on the forms was said to be all in one style, despite there being two named applicants, one being Carroll’s partner.

Carroll supplied a copy of his passport which showed his date of birth as July 2, 1975.

However, his real date of birth is February 9, 1982.

Checks of the passport by the Gambling Supervision Commission found that it had been altered and was fraudulent.

Company bank statements had also been provided by Carroll which showed a £2 million credit balance which was not true.

Other bank statements showed a balance of between £42,000 and £54,000 but investigations found that the real balance had been between £2.53 and £102 for the period shown.

He also submitted phone bills as proof of his address, supposedly at a property in Ramsey, and information from another company which was stated to be owned by his partner.

Investigations found that the Ramsey address he provided belonged to a woman who had done part-time accountancy work for him, and she had no knowledge of the application.

This resulted in her house being raided by the police.

Carroll’s partner was also initially arrested as a result of his fraud but was released without charge as she had no knowledge of the application.

He was arrested on September 7 and when interviewed, answered ‘no comment’ to all questions.

But on January 31 this year, Carroll was interviewed by police again and this time handed in a prepared statement.

In it, he admitted he was guilty of submitting false documentation and had also signed documents on behalf of his partner, who had no knowledge of it.

Carroll said he did it to cover up previous convictions in Scotland which would have meant he was not eligible for a licence.

In court, Carroll pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation and two counts of making articles for use in frauds.

Defence advocate Sara-Jayne Dodge handed in letters of reference for her client as well as a letter from Carroll himself.

The advocate said that when her client had initially started planning for the application process he had not intended to commit fraud, and he had only done so when he realised that his previous convictions would be an issue.

Carroll claimed he had been incorrectly informed that his previous convictions would not hinder his application.

He told probation: ‘I put a lot of work in over a year and the whole process has cost me £30,000.’

Ms Dodge argued that the offence had not been sophisticated as it had involved Tippex and photocopying.

She also said that Carroll had not made any applications for grants which were available.