Lewis Bloor: Towie star 'part of £3m diamond scam'

Lewis Bloor joined The Only Way Is Essex in 2013 and also appeared in Celebrity Big Brother in 2016

The Only Way Is Essex star Lewis Bloor was part of a £3m diamond scam before appearing on the ITV show, a court has heard.

More than 200 victims, many of them elderly, were conned into buying small, coloured stones after being "told lies" about their value during cold calls, prosecutors said.

Mr Bloor, 31, who appeared on the reality show for three years from 2013, is on trial alongside five other men.

He denies conspiracy to defraud.

The alleged fraud relates to two companies, Imperial Assets Solutions and Henderson & Forbes, which were involved in selling coloured diamonds.

"Each one of these six defendants was involved in both [firms], with one exception, Lewis Bloor, who left at some point in 2013 to pursue a career in television," prosecutor David Durose QC said.

"In total, over 200 people were conned into buying coloured diamonds and the companies defrauded those people out of a total of well over £3m."

Southwark Crown Court heard many of the alleged victims were elderly and had been encouraged to use some of their life savings or pension pots to purchase the diamonds.

"Every single one of them has lost their money," Mr Durose said.

'All but valueless'

The jury heard the stones were bought from a wholesaler and sold on with a mark-up of about 600%.

A £5,000 investment would have been for diamonds originally purchased for about £750, the court heard.

The stones were "all but valueless" to the buyers, Mr Durose said, as they would have to pay 20% VAT on their investment before they could be sold.

"Invariably, that would be more than the diamond was actually worth," He said.

The five others on trial, facing the same charge, are Joseph Jordan, 29, from Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, George Walters, 29, from Beckenham, in Kent, Max Potter, 25, of Enfield, London, Nathan Wilson, 28, of Brentwood, Essex, and Simon Akbari, 27, from Loughton, Essex.

The trial continues.