Who Wants To Be A Millionaire contestant, 75, jailed after £4.5m fraud case
One of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire's? "worst ever" contestants has been jailed in a multi-million-pound fraud case.
Jeff Arundell, 75, who appeared on the game show all the way back in 2000, has been convicted of multiple offences after telling friends to invest in a 'guaranteed money-making scheme'. It was later discovered he lied about the success of trades.
A court heard how he promised friends and his friend's family members, who also invested in the scheme, that he would personally guarantee their stake if he was wrong, leading to around £100,000 being handed over. A month later, Arundell placed the cash on numerous spread betting trades, but weeks later he informed his victims that the money had been lost, and he could not reimburse them despite his guarantee.
Jeff Arundell appeared on TV all the way back in 2000 (ITV)However, it later came to light that Jeff, residing in Sion Hill in the Lansdown area of Bath, had actually profited from the trades but had deliberately lied about the losses. His winnings from these trades, along with additional bets he placed, allowed him to accumulate £4.6 million by August 2017.
Following the victims' report to the police, Arundell asserted that when he made the bets in December 2016, he could have repaid the guaranteed amount using a £100,000 inheritance from his late mother. However, the police investigation revealed that Arundell had taken £260,000 from his mother while holding power of attorney while she was still alive, depriving his own family of their inheritance upon her passing.
Man in 30s dies after being stabbed in park sparking police probe
Arundell was convicted at Bristol Crown Court on Monday (October 30) of three counts of fraud by false representation and one count of money laundering, all related to the £86,000 he received from his friend and their family. He was found not guilty of a fourth count of fraud by false representation relating to the remaining funds he received.
He was separately charged with fraud by abuse of position over the handling of his late mum's finances in 2020. He was convicted of this offence in April 2021. For the five charges he was found guilty of, Arundell was jailed for six-and-a-half years in prison during a hearing at the same court yesterday (October 31). An application has been made under the Proceeds of Crime Act to recoup money he gained through his criminality.
When he appeared on TV in the noughties, he answered just six questions before being kicked off the hot seat when giving an incorrect answer to the £4,000 question. He'd used two lifelines in the process and wasn't doing well.
Jeff needed the '50/50' lifeline to find out that an anaconda is a snake, he also had to 'Ask the Audience' lifeline to determine the number 2000 in Roman numerals (MM). He was left with just £1,000 when posed with the question of which policy related to a return to traditional British values was launched by John Major in 1993. Arundell incorrectly guessed "Citizens Charter" instead of the correct answer, which was "Back to Basics".
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
