A FRAUDSTER who used a web of lies to keep his victims at bay was jailed for three years and seven months.

Dishonest Keith Conner received £650,000 between June 2011 and October 2011 after hijacking the details of an offshore company and forging documents to commit fraud and evade paying VAT.

The 56-year-old also cheated the taxpayer out of more than £150,000 during the same period, but was eventually arrested before admitted his guilt.

Investigators discovered in June 2011 he had hijacked the details of registered British Virgin Island company, Pruton Investment Holding Ltd, to buy and sell a property in London. 

He forged a document in the name of a Malaysian businessman to transfer the £309,000 profit into a company bank account he controlled. 

A similar deal was discovered by HMRC investigators in October 2011, this time leading to him banking £331,000. 

Prosecuting lawyer, Matthew Turner, said Conner has two previous convictions for fraud in 1992 and 1999, adding that he served a 12-month suspended sentence in 1999.

He added: “Had the purchasers of the homes known about his past they would never had entered into an agreement with Mr Conner. He held them at bay and held it together through a web of lies.”

Conner’s sentence was delayed on February 8 after he broke his ankle. He appeared in court on Friday, April 27 with crutches wearing a white protective boot.

Defending, Adam Butler, said the father of two from Ascot has moved to the south coast and is selling his house in Coronation Road to repay his victims.

He said: “Your honour knows the difficulty of selling the house, but this now looks as if this is going ahead. He knows exactly what needs to be done and the contracts are going through.

“He has been married for 15 years, has two sons and is no longer self-employed. He is an employee who wants to rebuild his life.

“With regard to his medical problems, he is having ongoing treatment. He has 18 stitches in his leg, I don’t know if your honour has seen the crutches?”

Judge Dugdale replied: “Yes, the timing is all rather unfortunate.”

Sentencing Conner, the judge added: “We have tried to get this sentencing on for quite a while now. We have got to take a deep breath and get on with it.

“I have got to sentence you for these frauds that you committed back in 2011 when you carried out these property deals. You misrepresented yourself. You were dishonest.

“You were forbidden from being a company director from a court order and yet you directly contravened this. The resulting loss is to the public purse, around £150,000.

“Unfortunately you have previous convictions for similar matters, there is no way around that. Since 2011 you have not been involved in other fraudulent activity. 

“You have woken up to the fact that having flashy, affluent lifestyle with a big house is not worth the risk. All of the losses to the taxpayer will be repaid. That is to your credit.”

Conner admitted five charges at Reading crown court on January 25 last year.

Sentencing has been delayed to allow Conner time to sell his Ascot home to pay any future confiscation order, which was set at £640,709.

This includes £150,000 to be paid to HMRC for the VAT evaded. He was further disqualified as a company director for seven years.