'Brexit film' producer jailed for £500k loan application fraud
- Published
Film producer David Shipley has been jailed for more than three years
A film producer who lied about his income to secure a £519,000 loan has been jailed for more than three years.
David Shipley, 37, admitted editing images of his payslips and P60 to "over-inflate" his income to obtain money, Southwark Crown Court heard.
He is credited with producing the 2016 documentary film Brexit: The Movie, which promoted the UK's departure from the European Union.
Judge Martin Griffith said his actions were "a blatant piece of dishonesty".
Prosecutor Aqeel Noorali said Shipley, of Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, contacted financiers Resourcing Capital Ventures Limited for a £519,000 loan in 2014.
The producer had "Photoshopped" his payslips to show an income of £377,000 and bank statements showing £540,000, he said.
His actual income was just under £20,000.
The money was to help fund a new company - Spitfire Capital Advisers Ltd - which Shipley set up with two others.
Southwark Crown Court heard Shipley's actions amounted to "gross dishonesty"
Judge Griffith described it as "gross dishonesty", adding: "You maintained, when you Photoshopped those documents, it amounted to a white lie.
"You were going into business with other people and you say you have earned this much in the past and they trusted your word."
'Fraudulent conduct'
The court heard that Shipley pleaded guilty to one count of fraud by false representation between 12 June and 5 September 2014.
He was jailed for three years and nine months, and was disqualified from being a director for seven years.
Hunter DuBose, of Spitfire Capital Advisers, described Shipley's sentence as a "victory" for the victims of his fraud.
He said Shipley was sacked in June 2017 for gross misconduct.
None of Spitfire's clients was affected by Mr Shipley's fraudulent conduct at any point, he added.
Brexit: The Movie is a feature-length documentary advocating the UK's departure from the EU, released in the weeks before the referendum in June 2016.
The £300,000 budget was raised through crowdfunding.