Harrogate fraud: Dating app conman tricked woman into selling house

Marc Raven caused "immeasurable damage", his victim's family said

A serial fraudster who tricked a woman he met on a dating app into marrying him and selling her house has been jailed.

Marc Raven, 61, manipulated the woman from Harrogate into giving him more than £200,000, police said.

He had lied that he had a large amount of money in a bank account in Singapore and promised to pay her back.

Raven, who earlier admitted fraud, was sentenced at York Crown Court to eight years and one month in jail.

North Yorkshire Police said Raven had also been known as Marc Bookey, Marc Cohen and Marc Stewart.

He met a woman through a dating app in January 2018 and they were married by October.

He encouraged her to sell her home in Harrogate so they could use the money to live on, making her believe they would soon be buying a property worth more than £1m, the force said.

Raven was also taking money from his victim with the promise he would pay her back but was having difficulty accessing his bank account in Singapore.

By October 2019, the woman had transferred more than £200,000 to Raven and had to declare herself bankrupt and move in with her family, a police spokesperson said.

Another victim

North Yorkshire Police arrested Raven and then discovered another victim in Singapore.

Raven had begun a relationship with her in 2016, and the following year contacted her to say he was in hospital in Dubai and needed money to pay medical fees and customs fines.

In fact, he was fit and well in the UK.

Between July 2017 and August 2018, the victim transferred about £100,000 to Raven, according to police.

The investigation showed Raven's claims of having a large amount of money in a bank account in Singapore to be false.

Raven, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to fraud against two women at York Crown Court on 26 September.

'Immeasurable damage'

In a personal statement read at court, the daughter of the woman who Raven married said: "The damage Marc has done to my family is immeasurable, and no punishment will ever repair the damage he's done to my mum.

"I just hope that he's unable to cause this much harm and pain to anyone again."

DC Neil Brodhurst, of North Yorkshire Police, said: "Raven was a serial fraudster, who lied again and again to obtain money from women he was in a relationship with. It's no exaggeration to say his deception has shattered lives."