Fraudster jailed after victims lost thousands

Egbendip was jailed at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday

A fraudster who ran a "classic Ponzi scheme" to pocket more than £110,000 from victims by promising lucrative returns on investments which never materialised has been jailed.

Godfrey Egbendip, described in court as a "community chief", promised monthly returns of 10 to 15% from a property business.

The 59-year-old's victims included a soldier who was discharged from the armed forces due to the impact on his mental health.

Egbendip, of Beckhampton Road, Nottingham, was found guilty of seven counts of fraud and jailed for four years and three months at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday.

The court heard seven victims, all from the Cameroonian community across the Midlands, invested into the scheme between January and May 2021.

Some victims did receive a return but were well down on their initial investment.

The court heard when victims contacted Egbendip to complain, he told them the issue was a "civil matter".

The soldier, who had served for 10 years, invested £24,500 in the scheme but received nothing in return.

In his statement, he said: "He [Egbendip] has completely and utterly ruined my life."

Another victim, a widow, lost £20,000 while another woman with a brain tumour lost £16,000 and said she "felt guilty for recommending others".

'Conman hallmarks'

In mitigation, Scott Tuppen for Egbendip said: "Whilst there was an impact on all these defendants… there is no suggestion that anyone has been made bankrupt or homeless of that nature."

But the judge Tina Dempster said she had "no option" but to impose a custodial sentence, telling him: "You clearly thought you had no moral duty to make a return.. there was not a shred of remorse from you about your offending.

"They believed in you, they trusted you. Those contracts which they signed, I found to be deliberately misleading.

"You are charming, you made the victims feel that their investments would be safe, you were persuasive and I consider all this to be the hallmarks of a conman.

"You were using their money effectively not to invest in property, you created a classic Ponzi scheme and ultimately you were having to bring in more and more investors so that you could pay out the the returns that you had promised. 


"It was always going to collapse. It inevitably did so, leaving your victim significantly poorer."

A confiscation order was also made for compensation payments through proceeds of crime.