Developer jailed over £1m fraud

A Lincolnshire property developer has been jailed for four years after admitting more than £1m of fraud.

Andrew Arber, 45, from Highfields Farm, Bracebridge Heath, ran up £440,000 of losses by cheque fraud.

A court heard Arber then fraudulently obtained £700,000 from the manager of a prestige car dealership in Boston.

He admitted four charges of obtaining a pecuniary advantage and seven charges of making false representations at Lincoln Crown Court.

'Highly intelligent'

The charges relate to offences which began in May 2005.

Judge Robert Alan Brown said Arber was a "highly intelligent man" who was well aware he was involved in a "deliberate, sustained" fraud.

Stephen Lowne, prosecuting, told the court that Arber bought a £130,000 Aston Martin, £60,000 boat and a £10,000 motorbike with the proceeds of the scams.

Arber admitted to cross-firing up to 15 cheques a day, when questioned by police and using Tippex to forge bankers' drafts.

Cross-firing exploits delays in the cheque clearing process and allows fraudsters to credit a virtual amount to a new account and then transfer it to another account.