By James Simons-
A convicted fraudulent property developer has been ordered by the courts to pay back over £569,000, or face four more years in prison.
56-year-old Ralph Christie was sentenced to seven years imprisonment in March 2015, after being convicted of five counts of fraud. Christie had encouraged investors to invest in property developments in Greece, but instead used some of that money to fund a lifestyle of fraud that included a horrible gambling habit. The extent of the fraud involved more than £1m, and were carried out between March 2007 and May 2009.
He fooled two of his victims, Michael and Kimberly Thompson from Doncaster to invest £200,000 in his property development firm on the island of Crete.
Christie promised the Thompsons, who were on the evrge of semi-retirement on the Greek island, a 25% return on their money. hen it was time to get the return on their money, they were met with excuses.
ORDER
Yesterday at Bradford Crown Court, the fraudster was ordered to pay back a total of £569,990.64 to the complainants of the frauds for which he was convicted.
Ramona Senior – Head of the Economic Crime Unit at West Yorkshire Police, said: “This was a complex confiscation hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act but the Financial Investigator worked tirelessly to recover money from Christie.
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“At the centre of this were the victims who lost a lot of money because of the fraud.
“The impact on them in many cases was considerable and at least today we have secured money back from Christie.”
Christie now has three months to pay the money back or face an additional four years imprisonment in default of non-payment.
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Ms Senior added: “The order made will be robustly enforced and if Christie fails to pay this order he will face a further four years in prison and the debt he owes to society will remain with him for life until paid in full.
It will be interesting to see if evil Christie can fork the money out from wherever it is hidden, or whether he will do an extra four years on top of the three years he has done already. Our eyes remain open.
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