'Lord' fraudster guilty of £400k fake cruise scam

A fraudster who called himself a lord has been convicted of making £400,000 by selling fake cruises in a Ponzi-style scam.

Essex Police said a 10-year investigation into Richard Lester, 56, found he managed to dupe 184 people into purchasing sham cruise miles.

Victims from across the globe only discovered they had been swindled when they turned up at ports for holidays and were turned away by cruise operators.

Lester, of Swifts Green Road, Luton, was found guilty of fraudulent trading and concealing criminal property following a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court.

Police also found Lester used several aliases to evade capture, going by the names Lord Lester, Henry Lester, Les Richards, Richie Lescovitch and Barry Williams.

He will be sentenced at the same court on 11 February 2025.

Cruisemiles were bought through agents and exchanged for journeys through Lester's Cruisemiles website at heavily discounted prices, but no holidays were booked.

Instead, Lester frittered the money away on online poker websites and bragged about having a lavish lifestyle.

PC Leanne Smith, who has been investigating Cruisemiles and Lester since 2014, said: "This has been a large and complex investigation, with officers gathering dozens of statements from victims.

"All their money leads back to Lester. His greed left hundreds of people thousands of pounds out of pocket."

Customers would purchase miles to be exchanged for cruises, however, many found the number of miles required "regularly and rapidly increased", police said.

Over time, disgruntled victims began to report the scheme and in July 2013, Essex Police was contacted by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau.

The force discovered victims in the UK and across the world including the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, France, Germany and Japan.

Over three years, he stole £406,856.39 from 184 people.

PC Smith said: "Securing justice for these victims meant scouring several bank accounts to trace exactly where their money had gone.

"They were tricked into committing more and more money to his scheme, unaware that money was going directly into Lester's pocket.

"He's now been found guilty thanks to the testimonies of those who wouldn't believe his excuses."

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