A MAN from Leigh has been jailed for his role in sophisticated £3 million land banking fraud which duped more than 300 victims, leaving many in financial ruin.

Alfred Arthur, from Deepdale, was given a four-year prison sentence at Liverpool Crown Court today, Thursday.

During an 11-week trial the court heard that the 56-year-old was a sales rep who used his 'experience and rustic charm' to dishonestly mis-sell plots of land.

He was one of five people in the dock for the seven-year fraud, with their combined sentences totalling 29 years.

Judge Andrew Menary said: “Everyone involved was driven by greed and the potential for huge financial gain.”

Land banking fraud involves investors being contacted with cold calls, mail shots, brochures or websites and encouraged to purchase plots of land in the belief they are investing in land that will significantly increase in value.

The fraud related to the involvement of Arthur and four others – Timothy Wren, 39, from Newton-le-Willows, John (Jack) Chandler, 59, and his wife Jeanette Chandler, 60, from St Helens, and Kevin Hilton, 40, from Burscough – with Land Banking (UK) Plc and Land Strategy Limited as well as other businesses involved in land banking fraud.

The sales pitch sought to convince the investors that the land for sale could get planning permission when in reality the plots of land had no development potential or the land was situated in green belt areas and was unlikely to be granted planning permission.

Pensioners, vicars and business people were encouraged to invest in parcels of land in Warwickshire, Merseyside, Cheshire and Derbyshire using their pensions.

In one incident compensation money received as a result of an attack that left the investor blind was lost.

Detectives believe more than 300 people from all over the country believed the sales pitch and paid over the odds for land worth a fraction of the price they paid.

Clive Myerscough, fraud investigator from Merseyside Police said: “The sentencing brings to an end an extensive five-year investigation.

"Timothy Wren, John Chandler and Jeanette Chandler were in charge of a team of sales people who specialised in trawling through huge lists of businesses and potential investors and cold-calling them or sending mail shots in the hope they would take them up on their fraudulent offers of land.

"They played on people's trust, telling investors a pack of lies about the possible resale value of the land, which could not have been further from the truth.

"It was an indiscriminate, scattergun approach which saw victims from Merseyside to Warwickshire contacted and enticed into spending their hard-earned money.

"The scam was so convincing that sadly hundreds of otherwise astute, intelligent investors were taken in and lost out financially.

"The defendants meanwhile lived a life of comfort and luxury on the back of their crimes.

"After a five-year investigation it is satisfying for myself and the victims in this case to see people receiving custodial sentences for what they had done to lots of innocent people."

Detective Inspector Helen Bennett, who leads the fraud investigation unit force's economic crime team, added: "Scammers like this prey on people's desire to better themselves and their business.

"They create a veneer of authenticity, producing professional-looking literature to convince people they are genuine.

"We have shown other would-be scammers and fraudsters out there of what we are prepared to do to protect the public from fraud and tackle the offenders and the custodial sentences should serve as a warning.

"However people can protect themselves from convincing scams like this by researching the company on the internet first, never agreeing to pay anything up front, never giving bank details to cold-callers over the phone and reporting any concerns or suspicions they have to ActionFraud and the police.

"If something seems too good to be true, it often is and you should leave well alone."