'Gordon Manson ruined our lives'

By Graeme Esson
BBC News Online Scotland

Niall Robertson said he was strung along by Manson

Three people caught up in Gordon Manson's cons have told how the experience wrecked their lives.

The former lawyer, who has been sentenced to seven years in jail for frauds totalling almost £3m, pocketed £100,000 of Ian Fotheringham's money a decade ago.

Several years later Emanuel Wittenberg thought that the former high-flier had bought over his company - only to discover that it had been "hijacked".

And one of Manson's former employees, Niall Robertson, is facing bankruptcy after being left tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket.

The 29-year-old joined Manson's company in June 2001 to work on property transactions.

He realised something was wrong when he started getting paid late and was not reimbursed for expenses.

Next big deal

"By that time I was in too much debt. Gordon owed me too much money for me to walk away."

He said Manson strung him along by promising to pay what he owed when the next big deal came through - which it never did.

Mr Robertson eventually quit but was persuaded to reconsider by Manson - a decision he described as his "biggest regret".

It was not long before the liquidator arrived at the company's Edinburgh offices.

I was just a pawn in Gordon's big game of chess Niall Robertson

"I found out my name had been used in a series of companies, one of which was in liquidation.

"I then discovered from my lawyer that I had personal liabilities under the Company Directors Act."

He started receiving phone calls from the company's creditors, was arrested by police and was admitted to hospital with high blood pressure brought on by the stress.

Mr Robertson said he had paid staff wages out of his own pocket and lived on his credit card, which he was unable to repay.

He then discovered that he was not eligible for state benefits because his National Insurance contributions had not been paid.

'Deep divisions'

"I could not even prove that I had a job. I was just a pawn in Gordon's big game of chess," he said.

He said the case had caused "deep divisions" within his family and affected the health of his parents.

Mr Robertson estimated that he had lost more than £34,000 - and his legal bills are still growing.

We have managed to hang on with a struggle, but it has been extremely difficult Ian Fotheringham

His debt counsellor has told him that filing for bankruptcy is the only way out of his predicament.

Mr Robertson also discovered that Manson had used his name to buy a property in Aberdeen.

Ian Fotheringham first met Manson back in the early 1990s as he looked for working capital to set up a new steel processing company.

Mr Fotheringham's lawyers introduced him to the corporate finance department at Touche Ross, where Manson worked.

Manson then left Touche Ross and said he had set up a corporate finance business.

He told Mr Fotheringham that if he put in some additional capital then his firm could find the rest of the money needed.

Additional cash

However, Manson pocketed the bankers draft for about £100,000.

The new business failed to get off the ground and Mr Fotheringham also lost the additional cash he injected into the business to keep it going while he waited for the money Manson had promised. He also had to meet guarantees of about £50,000.

The repercussions are still being felt by Mr Fotheringham and his wife Anne.

"Losing £100,000 didn't do very much for us, and we have never really recovered from that," he said.

Manson has admitted a number of fraud charges

"We lost our business, our income and almost our house.

"We have managed to hang on with a struggle, but it has been extremely difficult.

"We were not exactly made of money. I didn't have £100,000 lying about in my petty cash box."

Years later it also emerged that Manson had named Mr Fotheringham as a director of companies which had been set up without his knowledge.

He began receiving letters and demands from companies who had dealings with these firms, as well the Inland Revenue and VAT bills.

"In a lot of cases that was the first I knew that I had any supposed involvement with these companies," said Mr Fotheringham.

He shattered my life and almost ruined my marriage, and I am still trying to pick up the pieces Emanuel Wittenberg

When he went to Companies House he found that he was a director of 14 companies - a dozen more than he should have been.

His legal fees for fighting off claims relating to those companies have run into thousands of pounds.

The 62-year-old is now self-employed.

"I have had to remortgage my house and cash in my pensions to survive this far, always in the hope that some of this money would be recovered," he said.

"But it slowly dawned on us over the last couple of years that this is never going to happen."

He said Manson had been "very plausible" and had used his qualifications to work the system to his advantage.

Lose out

However, Mr Fotheringham believes that "slackness" in the system enabled Manson to get away with it.

He is now planning to pursue his bank in an effort to get back the money he lost a decade ago.

"I think he conned the banks, but I don't see why I should lose out because he conned the banks," he added.

Edinburgh dentist Emanuel Wittenberg thought Manson had bought over his property business in the late 1990s.

However, when it fell into arrears with mortgage payments he discovered that he had been left as the sole director of the firm.

Strung along

"He hijacked my company and told me so many blatant lies," he said.

"He shattered my life and almost ruined my marriage, and I am still trying to pick up the pieces."

He said Manson had also strung him along over a number of years.

"That was the most painful thing. You don't know whether you are coming or going," said Mr Wittenberg.

"You are on a rack which is stretching you all the time."