Keith Morgan's audacious £1m Hollywood land con

Conman Keith Morgan spent more than a year building trust with the businessman he went on to defraud

To his neighbours, Keith Morgan, 61, was a well educated father-of-two, living in a quiet street with his wife and frail father.

Yet from behind the walls of his suburban rented three-bed house in Church Village, south Wales he was concocting an elaborate scam.

He was intent on making his millions - through any means possible.

And it was through a friendship he forged with an American businessman that his plotting began to bear fruit.

Morgan was introduced to the man in his fifties who was living in New York via a mutual contact.

He embarked on a long and cunning ruse that relied on building trust over the best part of a year.

His victim, Mr Wa'el Chehab, was not a man who was easily duped.

A successful investment manager and previous vice president of New York's Citibank, he ran Cedar Capital Management Inc, which traded in global commodities.

His daily job involved networking with new investors, many of whom were UK based.

And in April 2014, he was introduced to Morgan.

At the time, Mr Chehab was looking for an extra cash boost to help him expand his business.

Honing in on this, Morgan began his web of deceit - telling Mr Chehab he ran a family business, Advent Capital, which dealt in world-wide project funding and which had strong links with top banks around the globe.

Morgan concocted his scam from his three-bed rented house near Pontypridd

Morgan offered to obtain Mr Chehab a guaranteed loan for $10m.

To back up his credentials, Morgan began forwarding Mr Chehab forged documents.

Convinced of his legitimacy, in September 2014, Mr Chehab sent his consultant to meet with Morgan and also Lex Greensill, owner of Greensill Bank and then economic advisor to David Cameron, at the London's Royal Horseguards Hotel.

During this meeting, the court heard how Morgan bragged about his wealth.

He told how he was the owner of the best piece of land in Hollywood, where he was going to build and sell $50m homes, one of them potentially going to the actor Tom Cruise.

He also claimed he was one of the world's richest men with links to Downing Street, the US government and the Saudi Royal family.

When pressed, Morgan promised the loan to Mr Chehab would soon materialise.

In reality, however, Morgan was about to implement the second part of his fraud.

In December 2014, just weeks before Mr Chehab was expecting his money, Morgan dropped into conversation that he was a philanthropist.

Morgan claimed to have links to Tom Cruise and David Cameron

He said he wanted to purchase three field hospitals for refugees, but needed a short-term bridging loan of £1m.

Once more, this elaborate hoax was backed up by documents.

During his trial at Cardiff Crown Court, prosecutor Tim Evans told how Morgan had contacted Turmaks, a legitimate company which manufactures mobile field hospitals.

A contract worth $40m was agreed with them.

Morgan then showed this contract to Mr Chehab, claiming the £1m loan he was requesting would cover the securing of a building site in Turkey, plus the cost of construction materials and a work force.

Despite reservations, Mr Chehab succumbed, sending him the loan to his Advent company account.

In fact, on 8 December 2014, the money landed in Morgan's personal bank account.

Whitehall Court, which houses the Royal Horseguards Hotel

But it was here that Morgan's plan became unstuck as his greed took over.

He began splashing out on high value goods - two motorbikes, a Ford Kuga and an orange £68,000 Jaguar F-type.

More than £100,000 was transferred into different accounts, and £12,000 went on other purchases and restaurants.

It was this unusual activity which sparked the interest of the money laundering department at Lloyds Bank.

South Wales Police froze his account and a warrant for his arrest was issued.

A day later in a dramatic showdown, armed officers were called to the area near to the Welsh Assembly's Senedd building in Cardiff Bay.

His car had been spotted by officers and when he was approached he pulled out a 12in hunting knife and threatened to kill himself.

There was a standoff of several hours before he handed the weapon over.

At his trial, the court heard he was a "fantasist" who did not own properties in Hollywood, or have links to top officials.

In fact, he had twice been disbarred from being a UK director and lived in a rented house and was on benefits.

Sentencing, Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke said he had "just enough knowledge of financial matters to be able to tell enormous lies".

Morgan was jailed for eight years after being convicted of fraud and two counts of money laundering.

Morgan spent the money on a new Jaguar, worth £68,000, and two motorbikes

Dr Ali Kemaloglu, the CEO of Turmaks, the company caught up in the scandal, said: "We are always looking for donations and although I never met Mr Morgan, I spoke to him on the phone when we were trying to finalise the contract.

"I still find it incredible that he used a contract with our company to get that much money out of somebody."

Neighbours also spoke of their shock at the extent of the scam.

Nurse Debbie Murray, 47, said she often spoke to Morgan, who she described as "well educated".

But she became "suspicious" of where his apparent wealth came from.

She said: "I knew they were renting, but they always had nice things delivered from John Lewis; a new curved TV and lovely garden furniture.

"They didn't seem to be working and it got me thinking when I saw the silver Jaguar, motorbikes in the garage and the brand new Ford.

"He just seemed to get himself caught up in his lies. It's awful, especially to put his family through that."