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Three years for fraudster exposed by regional daily

A fraudster exposed by a regional daily for selling non-existent green investment schemes has been jailed for 40 months.

Matthew Ames was found guilty last month on two counts of fraudulent trading, after conning people out of £2.1m for bogus “ethical investments.”

His activities came to light after an investigation by award-winning Basildon Echo reporter Jon Austin.

Ames 38, of Goldfinch Lane, Thundersley, was sentenced to 40 months in prison at Isleworth Crown Court on Friday.

After receiving a tip-off, Jon posed as a prospective investor at the company offices in 2010, secretly recording a sales pitch of more than an hour.

His work led to a four-page special investigation in the paper, published in August 2010, and his evidence was passed to the Financial Services Authority and the City of London police.

Ames ran The Investor Club, which was supposedly selling investments in Sri Lankan teak trees, and Forestry for Life, a rainforest scheme, from a converted farm barn in Dunton Road, Laindon.

The court heard the two firms defrauded investors out of their life savings and pensions with false promises of 12-15pc interest returns, while Ames used some of the cash to pay for a Caribbean holiday and to buy a Lambhorgini.

Judge Paul Dugdale said Ames persuaded investors to part with life savings and pensions through slick brochures and the promise of significant returns he knew were not achievable.

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