'Deluded' ex-lawyer's £2.7m fraud

Manson appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh

A "deluded" former lawyer carried out a series of frauds because he could not come to terms with his failure in business, a court heard.

Gordon Manson has admitted defrauding banks out of £2.7m in property deals - one carried out while he was on bail.

He also conned a former school friend out of £40,000 and failed to pay back the £30,000 investment he received from a Livingston company.

The 39-year-old used forged documents and assumed identities during his scams.

His case was adjourned again when he appeared for sentence at the High Court in Edinburgh on Friday.

Investigate claims

Manson, who is being held in custody, claimed to have an interest in a £1m property in Manchester.

Lord Hardie asked defence solicitor advocate Jim Keegan to investigate these claims and establish whether he could pay back some of the money he owed.

Mr Keegan said his client's behaviour was "indicative of an individual who could not come to terms with the fact that he had failed in business and had gone bankrupt".

He said Manson had worked as a lawyer in a large commercial practice and had been regularly involved in large transactions.

Not only did he delude himself, he deluded others and to his extreme regret he deluded friends Jim Keegan Solicitor advocate

"Having gone into business he was initially successful, and thereafter failure having occurred he continued with the facade of being a businessman.

"Not only did he delude himself, he deluded others and to his extreme regret he deluded friends."

He said Manson was "particularly remorseful" about the money lost by Gordon Fraser and his wife Deirdre, which he had resolved to pay back whenever possible.

The undischarged bankrupt admitted committing four frauds, an attempted fraud of £820,000 and breaches of company director's disqualification rules.

The High Court heard that Manson, formerly of Carlton Terrace, Edinburgh, approached Livingston firm Multex Engineering in 1996 after it advertised for investment opportunities.

'Fobbed off'

The company agreed to invest £30,000 in a company called the Claymore Group, but Manson missed the deadline for repaying the money.

A cheque he later sent to the company bounced.

Advocate depute Sean Murphy said: "The Multex directors attempted to contact him and were fobbed off with various excuses, but the money never appeared and was never paid back."

Mr and Mrs Fraser also failed to get back the £40,000 they loaned to Manson the following year.

A deal was done to buy 3 Randolph Crescent, Edinburgh

In 2001 Manson used the name Graham Robinson to seek an £820,000 loan on behalf of a development company to buy property in Edinburgh.

However, the bank later received a fax pulling out of the transaction.

Mr Murphy said that police then learned that Manson had accepted a £900,000 to buy a property at 3 Randolph Crescent in Edinburgh.

Manson, again pretending to be Robinson, showed the bank a forged driving licence and gas bill in that name and produced a forged lawyer's letter which said Robinson was a millionaire.

Manson admitted forging signatures and using the false identity when he was interviewed by police.

Bank employees

He was granted bail after appearing in court.

However, in September last year he pretended to bank employees in Aberdeen that he was Niall Robertson, who he said was authorised to represent a company called Braemar House.

He said that the firm needed a loan of £1.8m to buy a property in the city's Union Street.

The transaction went ahead before the collapse of what Mr Murphy described as the "house of cards" constructed by Manson.