Buckhurst Hill conman who blew others’ life savings facing jail
A BANKRUPT who conned �14 million from investors so he could lead a life of luxury is facing jail.
Terence Freeman, 62, convinced some 335 victims to hand over their life savings to the fraudulent Ponzi scheme by showing them fake figures and claiming he was registered with financial regulator the Financial Services Authority.
Freeman, who lived in Buckhurst Hill at the time, blew millions on botched trades in a three-year scam and bought himself holiday homes in Cyprus and France.
He also had an executive box at the Tottenham Hotspur football ground and lavished gifts on his new Russian bride, 30 year old Yegana - including a �120,000 diamond ring.
Freeman admitted a string of charges relating to his crooked dealings while a director of GFX Capital Ltd, at Southwark Crown Court in Hollybush Hill earlier today.
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The company, which was set up in 2004, collapsed with losses of an estimated �44million.
After his arrest in 2009 Freeman sought police protection after his �500,000 Buckhurst Hill house had white paint splattered on the doors and windows.
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He subsequently moved to Horsham in Essex.
Victims were impressed by his plush City of London offices in Broadgate which he rented for �14,000 a month.
But in reality he was a failed businessman who had been jailed in 1997 for fraud, Southwark Crown Court heard.
One couple who were conned by him lost a massive �1.4m and their dream family home.
Adjourning for a pre-sentence report, Judge Geoffrey Rivlin QC said: “These are people who are putting good money into this business and they are being conned into doing it.
“He has been in trouble before, a very long time ago.
“He was imprisoned for fraud.
“I don’t wish to raise his hopes that any point in the probation report may affect sentence.”
The trader denied three money laundering charges which are expected to be allowed to a lie on the court file following sentence.
He was released on bail on a string of stringent conditions including that he is fitted with an electronic tag.
Detective Superintendent Bob Wishart, from the City of London Police’s Economic Crime Directorate, said:
“Rub away the sheen and you find Freeman is the archetypal fraudster happy to steal money and ruin lives.”
Freeman is due to be sentenced on February 14.
