A CONMAN who swindled £7.5 million from more than 250 would-be investors, including a Premiership footballer, a terminally ill cancer patient, his next-door-neighbour and his mother, has been jailed for eight years.
David Bowerman, a former mortgage adviser, wooed friends, family and business associates with promises of huge returns as part of a Ponzi scheme, where investors are paid false dividends from the money paid into the scam.
The 35-year-old used the cash – including £400,000 from the Manchester City goalkeeper Richard Wright – to fund a pernicious gambling habit and a string of Caribbean cruises, sports car and summer soirees.
He also stole £36,500 from his mother after accessing the cash from her online bank account. Prosecutor Antony Swift told Chelmsford Crown Court on Monday that Bowerman, who was formerly regulated by the Financial Services Authority, "systematically" and "cynically" defrauded those close to him of huge sums of money. "The reason he was able to get away with it for so long was because he had personal acquaintanceships with many of these people," said the prosecutor. "They understood he had the backing of a wholly established financial firm but he was acting completely independent of them, without their knowledge or participation." Over a five year period, between 2005-2010, his victims included his next-door-neighbour, the father of his fiancée, who handed over his £110,000 life savings, and a terminally ill cancer patient.
In a victim impact statement read to the court the female patient said her loss had left her with "anxiety, stress and sleeplessness".
The court heard that Bowerman, who previously worked as an investment and mortgage adviser at Callaway Sykes Associates, on New Writtle Street, was £1 million in the red and invented increasingly elaborate scams to conceal his losses. "The defendant was in trouble," said Mr Swift. "He was a million in debt as a result of his gambling habit and he needed to set up different methods of obtaining money so he could hide the fact from his existing victims he was losing money." The principal scam, which accounted for £6 million of the fraud, involved wannabe investors paying into a gambling company called Shearer Hare, which promised huge returns but, in essence, operated like a Ponzi scheme.
He hired staff, office space and created bogus bank statements to create the illusion of a genuinely profitable business.
The biggest victims of the scam included Peter Stroud, the former chairman of Chelmsford City Football Club, who lost over a million pounds. "They appeared to have amounts of cash at their disposal and the defendant needed larger amounts of cash to keep his various balls in the air," added the prosecutor. "He told them that this particularly special betting syndicate was guaranteed to make money." On top of the Ponzi scheme, Bowerman also fraudulently sold bonds and ran a bogus loan scam, promising customers the chance to improve their credit rating.
In addition, he stole £36,500 from his mother Cynthia Bowerman by making 35 unsolicited withdrawals from her bank account.
As well as funding his gambling habit, the court heard that Bowerman spent vast sums of money funding a lavish lifestyle.
He spent £80,000 on three Caribbean cruises, £38,000 on an Audi sports car, £81,000 on an Aston Martin and £28,000 on a BMW, which was used as a pool car for his fraudulent betting company.
The court also heard that he bought his fiancé a Mini for Christmas. Bowerman, of Bramwoods Road, Chelmsford, handed himself in to police on August 11, 2010.
In September this year he pleaded guilty to 32 counts of fraud and one count of theft. Mitigating Christopher Kerr said that his client felt "shame" and "remorse" for his actions but that it was the result of an "acute and chronic gambling addiction". "He's well aware of the very great loss, both financial and emotional, that he has caused," said Mr Kerr. "He did believe he could turn all of it around by gambling. "He accepts that this belief was without foundation and was deluded." The court heard that after his arrest, and during his two year bail period, Bowerman voluntary visited his GP and undertook an eight-week compulsive behaviour clinic. Mr Kerr said Bowerman had made various steps, including meeting MPs and setting up a gambling charity, to warn of the dangers of excessive gambling.
He also assisted with the making of a BBC documentary 'Gambling and Me' and a programme called 'Britain's High Street Gamble'. "It is concrete evidence of his remorse," added Mr Kerr. "When he comes out of prison he is likely to be a net-contributor to society and not a net-taker."
Jailing him, Judge Charles Gratwicke said: "Over the period of five years you quite clearly engaged in multiple acts of dishonesty obtaining something in the region of £7.5 million. "The effects of your dishonesty has flown into the lives of a considerable number of people, all of whom have been effected in an adverse way." Speaking after the case, DC Peter Sutton, from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate Fraud Squad, said: "Bowerman's criminality touched the lives of over 250 people and netted him in excess of £7.5 million. "Some of his victims suffered more than once as he continued to abuse their trust whilst he fraudulently raised funds to feed his insatiable appetite for gambling and to finance a lavish lifestyle way beyond his legitimate means. "The cynical way in which Bowerman exploited the trust of his victims is the worst example seen by the case office in over 28 years of police service. "Bowerman has caused considerable financial hardship and loss to his victims from which many are likely never to be able to recover." Speaking to the Chronicle after the case, one victim in his 40s who lost £200,000, said no amount mitigation could excuse Bowerman.
He said: "I will not be in the financial position I was at when he comes out. He's got off very lightly. "It's all very well setting up charities. What's next – will he discover God?" Another victim added: "He's had two years to think about how to get his sentence lighter."
