09 February 2023 , 08:00
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One of the most accomplished liars I've ever encountered is back in jail.
Clint Canning is a persistent fraudster who is now starting a nine year sentence for an investment scam that resulted in 175 mainly elderly victims losing around £2.7 million.
His company Base2Trade claimed to make money for clients through online currency and commodity trading, its website promising "Professionalism, security, stability, vision".
Southwark Crown Court in London heard how the fraud began with a company called RMJB Group supplying lists of potential clients - mainly people with little investment experience - who were then cold called by sales reps at Base2Trade.
It was set up by Canning as the director, hiding behind the name Clint Foster.
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Victims at first seemed to make a profit, but this was a ruse to get them to invest more.
Then their money vanished in supposed bad trades and Base2Trade stopped answering its phones and emails and abandoned its offices in Bishopsgate, central London.
A series of damning emails were read to the court detailing how victims were fleeced.
In one, Canning told a colleague to rig client accounts, asking: "Is it too obvious if they all lose from tomorrow?"
Another internal email concerned customers being encouraged to place a particular trade involving the US dollar and Japanese Yen, Canning writing: "We've set the risk for them to lose."
A particular client was named in one message, Canning saying that he "seems to be winning a lot, something is wrong."
In another email, Canning told a colleague about the wording of a fake glowing testimonial that he wanted posted online, asking: "What do you think, does it sound too much like it's from us?"
An email from his wife Eleise Wallace was read to the court in which she told him: "The reason you were a good criminal is because you have no feelings for other people."
The key to defrauding victims lay in binary options - bets on the movement of currency or commodity prices - with Base2Trade making profits on trades only if clients made a loss.
Canning told the court that this was no different to online bookies.
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"The model of binary options was that the client would win or the house would win," he said.
But victims were not told this. They were told that the company was on their side, to help them make profitable trades.
Dominic Connolly, prosecuting, told the jury that its website read: "From the moment you open your account, Base2Trade is with you every step of the way. Our objective is to provide you with everything you need to maximise your profit potential."
The company encouraged clients to allow Base2Trade's "experts" to trade on their behalf, promising a 70% win rate.
In fact, the staff ensured that clients would lose everything.
Mr Connolly told Canning: "With your knowledge your company took steps to make your clients lose."
Canning replied: "I do not accept that."
Instead he blamed rogue employees and a manager named as Kyle Snoxell, who Canning claimed was addicted to cocaine and steroids.
Smarmy: publicity shots showing the image that Canning like to portray to investorsThe money disappeared into bank accounts in Bulgaria controlled by Canning and Wallace. It was spent on luxuries including watches and holidays and paying the company that ran the supposed trading platform, named as Israeli firm O Systems, run by Haim Lagziel.
"Base2Trade never had a UK bank account in its own name, why?" Mr Connolly asked. "You were worried that if the banks found out about the nature of your business they would freeze your bank accounts and matters would be reported to the authorities."
Canning replied: "It was a professionally legally run company at that time."
The 45-year-old from Dunmow, Essex, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud and jailed for nine years.
Wallace, 37, was convicted of money laundering and given a two year suspended sentence and 180 hours unpaid work.
In sentencing, Judge Chris Hehir said that impact statements from victims made for "very sad reading", and included people who could no longer afford to retire or put their children through university.
He described Canning as "an enthusiastic scammer who despises the people he scams" and "a relentless fraudster who lies readily and fluently."
After the trial Detective Inspector Gareth Dothie of the City of London Police, said: “This has been a lengthy and complex investigation and we are glad that Canning has been brought to justice for his crimes.
“Canning, who uses a number of aliases including Christian Beauchamp and Clint Foster, was previously convicted for fraud and had a lifetime ban from being a director of a company.
"He has shown himself to be a career criminal and in this instance worked alongside his wife, Eleise Wallace, to defraud people and spend innocent victims’ money on their own lifestyle.
"We hope that the sentence handed down by the court today goes some way to help the victims rebuild their lives.”
The court was told of Canning's previous convictions, revealing the repeated use of fake names in a series of frauds using forged cheques and banker's drafts to buy new cars, which he'd then sell.
One example dating back to 2006 was an Audi TT that he bought for £16,000 using the name James Anderson. To cover his tracks he changed the plates and sold it using the name William Morris.
He later bought a Mini Cooper as Michael Green, and sold it using the name David Andrews.
He bought a Honda Civic as Andrew Hunter and sold it as Adam Price.
There were other similar offences with other cars and aliases, as well as lying about his income to get a mortgage on a £599,550 house in Surrey.
Canning outside court during his 2021 trialI had personal experience of Canning's fake names in early 2021 when I was investigating a company called Alpha Nova Capital Ltd, whose sole director was listed on Companies House was Christian Beauchamp.
On the surface, this was a legitimate investment company that was the "appointed representative" of a firm that was authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. But I had some concerns, the main one being that Beauchamp was in fact Clint Canning using yet another alias.
I emailed some questions and this resulted in "Beauchamp" turning up on my doorstep - he admitted using a private detective to find my address - and desperately trying to convince me not to write about Alpha Nova.
He insisted that he was not Clint Canning but Canning's half-brother and was an entirely legitimate investment fund manager trying to raise $500million from institutional investors.
I already knew that was a lie, I had proof that he was trying to get average savers to invest in his company, targeting them through Google Ads promising: "Our team will compare hundreds of the top investment opportunities across the UK".
He got London law firm Payne Hicks Beach on to me; his solicitor saying I had made "a large number of seriously defamatory allegations which would undoubtedly give rise to a claim in defamation if published".
I was also able to prove that Christian Beauchamp did not exist, it was a fake identity created by Canning. At the time I didn't know that he changed names like the rest of us change socks.
He had good reason to use a different name: he had been banned from acting as a company director after a previous company of his, Quantum Satis Investments Limited was liquidated owing more than £1.1million to creditors – some of the money being siphoned away to buy property in Cyprus.
Despite the threats from his lawyers the Mirror ran the article exposing him and in May 2021 he was jailed for 12 months for acting as a director while disqualified, Judge Martin Griffith at Southwark Crown Court in London kindly calling my column "a great service to the public".