A penniless conman has been jailed for five years for an ambitious scam to sell the Ritz hotel for STG250 million ($A428.89 million).
Jobless lorry driver Anthony Lee, 49, from Goole, East Yorkshire, found victims who were interested in the high-stakes world of trophy properties and sucked them in with false promises until they handed over STG1 million, London's Southwark Crown Court heard.
Lee was convicted earlier this month of obtaining the STG1 million payment by deception.
Sentencing him, judge Stephen Robbins described the offence as an "elaborate and outrageous scam".
Lee convinced potential buyer Terence Collins that he was a "close friend and associate" of the reclusive billionaire Barclay brothers, owners of the prestigious hotel in Piccadilly.
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Collins sought the support of Dutch billionaire financier Marcus Boekhoorn to finance the STG1 million payment in December 2006, telling him the reclusive Barclay brothers had "secretive reasons" for selling The Ritz through a third party.
But the sale never happened, the promised paperwork never materialised and the money was never returned, the jury heard.
