Shropshire farmer 'conned out of £300,000 inheritance', court told

George Davies, from Oswestry, transferred the money to international bank accounts, Shrewsbury Crown Court heard yesterday.

Karl Quinlan and Vicky Shearer are standing trial accused of playing a part in a five-year conspiracy to defraud the farmer. Both deny the charge.

Opening the case, Mr Anthony Potter, prosecuting, said another man called Michael Smith had already admitted his part in the scam and may have used a false name to entice Mr Davies to part with his cash. The court was told that Mr Davies was identified as a potential victim in 2004 and was targeted by phone and email over a lengthy period of time by a man who gave his name as Nick Lowe.

Mr Potter said Smith, who had a romantic involvement with Shearer, had opened a bank account in Andorra in 2005, stating he was a senior consultant at a firm called Carson Management.

By 2008, Mr Lowe, who kept in regular contact with the victim and claimed to be from Harman Stockwell and Partners, had managed to persuade Mr Davies to invest in shares in TMT Capital.

Mr Potter said Mr Davies sent £20,000 to the bank account in Andorra as a down payment on the shares. But a year later the account was closed by Smith, who had flown into Barcelona.

Mr Davies received his inheritance in 2009 and was told to send £282,000 to another international bank account in order to secure all of the shares.

The court was told that the bank account had been opened by 36-year-old Quinlan, who had flown to Barcelona, two weeks before the money was transferred.

Quinlan, of Bellwood Drive, York, later flew back there several times after the transfer was complete to drain the bank account over a period of about two months.

Mr Potter said: "All of Mr Davies' inheritance had gone."

He added: "Quinlan, a man who was friendly with Smith, acted as a willing partner in establishing one of the crucial bank accounts.

"He was opening that bank account clearly as a vehicle for fraud."

The court heard that evidence was later unearthed which showed that 35-year-old Shearer, of Linwood Close in Camberwell, London, had paid for a number of flights and had travelled with Smith to Barcelona in 2009.

A hard drive recovered from Smith also revealed she had been sent Mr Davies' address in an email, Mr Potter said.

Mr Davies was never sent any share certificates.

Giving evidence yesterday, Mr Davies said his inheritance came from the sale of his late father's farm in Edgerley after his death in 2007.

He said he spoke to the man he knew as Nick Lowe and his colleague regularly, claiming he was persistent about the shares. Mr Davies told the jury: "He convinced me basically."

The trial, which is expected to last a week, continues.