TV
'Dragons' Den' £230k conman jailed
Published Saturday, Feb 18 2012, 11:56 GMT | By Colin Daniels | 5 comments
A conman who appeared on Dragons' Den was jailed yesterday.
Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis invested £230,000 in Jean-Claude Baumgartner's 'satnav for skiers' concept, but his claim of owning a successful company was fake, supported by forged emails and letters.
Baumgartner instead spent the investment on a luxury lifestyle, renting a house in London's Hampstead and giving thousands to his girlfriend, The Sun reports.
He admitted fraud at London's Blackfriars Crown Court, confessing that he lied about owning the sole rights to the Satski. He was jailed for two years and eight months.
Judge Aidan Marron QC said: "You lied about the ownership of equipment which was pivotal to your pitch on TV. You created a false trail of documents to deceive well-intentioned people."
Jones and Paphitis were originally due to give evidence after Baumgartner claimed his business had failed because they hadn't sufficiently advised him, but he later changed his plea.
Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis invested £230,000 in Jean-Claude Baumgartner's 'satnav for skiers' concept, but his claim of owning a successful company was fake, supported by forged emails and letters.
© BBC
© BBC
Baumgartner instead spent the investment on a luxury lifestyle, renting a house in London's Hampstead and giving thousands to his girlfriend, The Sun reports.
He admitted fraud at London's Blackfriars Crown Court, confessing that he lied about owning the sole rights to the Satski. He was jailed for two years and eight months.
Judge Aidan Marron QC said: "You lied about the ownership of equipment which was pivotal to your pitch on TV. You created a false trail of documents to deceive well-intentioned people."
Jones and Paphitis were originally due to give evidence after Baumgartner claimed his business had failed because they hadn't sufficiently advised him, but he later changed his plea.
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