Shocking details have been revealed about how a scheming fraudster callously tricked and betrayed trusting friends in a £365,000 scam after they kindly loaned him money. Cruel and calculating “confidence trickster” James Chambers was jailed for four-and-a-half years after he “deliberately and repeatedly deceived and misled people who had befriended him”.
They discovered to their horror that it was “all a pack of lies” and that he had been “faking it all along” to them, Hull Crown Court heard. Chambers, 48, formerly of Driffield, but later of St John’s View, Boston Spa, near Wetherby, admitted seven offences of fraud by false representation.
David Hall, prosecuting, said that Chambers was an undischarged bankrupt at the time of the offences. He was a “greedy and manipulative confidence trickster” and he left a large number of people out of pocket and suffering a devastating sense of “betrayal” after a “sophisticated” long-running fraud totalling £365,139.
“The history of this case reveals that the defendant is a greedy and manipulative confidence trickster, who deliberately and repeatedly deceived and misled people who had befriended him into lending him money by pretending that he was the heir to a fortune,” said Mr Hall.
“It is important for the court to remember in cases like this that the damage to the victims is not just the financial loss but also ongoing feelings of betrayal, disloyalty, lies and deliberate, premeditated abuse of trust.”
Trusting man lost £125,000 in loans given to fraudster
A man had been friends with Chambers since 1999 after meeting on a chat line but they only met each other a few times. Chambers told him that his partner had died but that the man’s assets were being blocked and that Chambers had to pay solicitors to gain access to his inheritance.
Chambers made frequent requests for money and, between January and July 2021, the man loaned him £125,000, none of which had been repaid. Chambers never disclosed that he was a bankrupt and led the man to believe that he was due to come into a large inheritance from his late partner.
If the man had known that Chambers was a bankrupt, he would never have loaned him the money.
Two men lost tens of thousands between them
Chambers went to live with two men after his partner died and he told them about numerous debts he had been left. They paid £22,000 off for him.
He led them to believe that he had been left a £1.4m life assurance policy.
Chambers fraudulently used one of the men’s bank card details to buy numerous things, including meals out, hotel stays and Amazon purchases, totalling £21,000. The other man loaned Chambers £39,638 but Chambers did not say that he was a bankrupt.
Chambers led him to believe that the loans were to pay off debts. He claimed that he would pay him back with the trust fund that he was due to get.
Woman was given ‘false promises and excuses’ over repaying loans
A woman met Chambers in early 2017. He was a friend of a friend. He led her to believe that he was married to a man who had died of cancer that year.
She attended the funeral. “She found it suspicious that another male did the eulogy and not Chambers,” said Mr Hall. This was because the other man was, in fact, married to the man who had died and not Chambers.
Chambers asked her for a £4,000 loan and she believed it would be repaid because he led her to believe that he was a successful business owner. He asked for more loans over the following years.
“Chambers made the promise that he had the money but it was tied up in various other ventures,” said Mr Hall. In total, she loaned him £63,801 between September 2017 and May 2020.
“She regularly asked for her money to be repaid and she was filled with false promises, excuses and false claims that cheques had been posted and transfers completed,” said Mr Hall. “Chambers generated false emails.”
‘Vulnerable’ woman being treated for cancer lost £34,000
A woman met Chambers in early 2009 through a mutual friend who became the partner of Chambers but who had since died. She and Chambers socialised during their friendship but he never mentioned that he was a bankrupt.
He first requested a loan in 2009 and it happened regularly. He claimed that he needed money for paying his mortgage, for food and to assist his husband.
Chambers claimed that he would repay the money from a trust fund that he would get when he turned 40. The woman loaned him £34,000 over the years.
“She was receiving chemotherapy at the time and her husband was working abroad so she was extremely vulnerable,” said Mr Hall. “Chambers provided her with a copy of a bogus solicitor’s letter, which looked official, with details in it about repayments.”
The firm later told the woman that it had never heard of Chambers. He had produced the letter himself.
“He took advantage of her good nature and vulnerabilities during her cancer treatment and still requested money from her,” said Mr Hall.
Man received bogus emails from ‘accountant’ after losing £32,988
A man was in contact with Chambers through Facebook and they became friends in 2007. “They first actually met in person in July 2021,” said Mr Hall.
The man ran a pub in Raithby, near Spilsby in Lincolnshire, and Chambers visited him there with two friends. Chambers told the man that he was living in Driffield with his mother.
“At no point did he tell him that he was bankrupt,” said Mr Hall. Chambers eventually moved in with the man and he began asking for money, saying that he could not use his bank cards relating to the trust that he had been left.
The man lost £32,988. Chambers told him to email his accountant, who was handling his trust fund, but the man received emails generated by Chambers, supposedly from the accountant, and correspondence from three purported guardians of the trust fund.
Woman lost £6,700 after conman claimed trust fund was ‘worth millions’
A woman was introduced to Chambers in June or July 2021 by a mutual friend, a man who was another victim. “They became friends and socialised with each other regularly,” said Mr Hall.
Chambers claimed that his husband had died and a trust fund would provide a monthly income until he was 50, when the fund would mature. “Chambers made it clear that the trust fund was worth millions of pounds,” said Mr Hall. He later claimed that there were issues with the trustees and the account had been frozen, meaning he had to go to court to resolve it.
Chambers spoke about his property portfolio, paintings and his good lifestyle. His mother had substantial funds and he even promised the woman the use of the mother’s villa in Madeira whenever she wanted.
He asked her for a loan in September 2022 to “tide him over” because the trust finds were frozen. She transferred £4,200. She loaned a total of £6,700, which was never repaid.
Another woman having cancer treatment lost £3,600
A woman met Chambers in 2019 after knowing him through the two men mentioned earlier. “As a result, she trusted him and he soon became a friend,” said Mr Hall.
In June 2019, Chambers asked to borrow £3,600 from her and said that it would be repaid in three weeks. “Chambers has never paid this money back,” said Mr Hall.
She was sent emails under the name of his mother and another female victim. “These emails contained false promises stating that the money would be repaid,” said Mr Hall.
“At no point did he tell her that he was bankrupt and, had she known, she would never have loaned him any money. During the whole period, she was undergoing cancer treatment.”
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