Norwich businessman and Christian philanthropist Graham Dacre.
Jury at Norwich Crown Court sent out in international fraud case
Tom Bristow
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
2:00 PM
A jury deciding the fates of two men accused of an international con on a Norfolk businessman was sent out today.
Jurors will now reach a verdict on whether George Katcharian, 60, and Cemal Esmene, 56, conspired to defraud businessman Graham Dacre out of almost £12m and launder the money.
Katcharian, 60, is also accused of conspiring to defraud a German church of 10m euros, and both are charged with laundering the money - charges which they deny.
Norwich Crown Court has heard how Mr Dacre, the Christian philanthropist behind the Open Venue and the Open Academy in Heartsease, fell for a deception compared to a “card trick” in May 2008.
He handed over £11.9m and was promised huge returns on the investment through a secret, high-yield trading platform, which he was allegedly told was controlled by Iranian-born Katcharian.
But the promised returns never materialised.
In May, Alan Hunt, 65, of Poole, Dorset, was convicted of conspiracy to defraud Mr Dacre alongside Arthur ‘Trevor’ Ford-Batey, 62, of Carlisle, while Ian Yorkshire, 62, of Clarendon Villas, Brighton, was convicted of conspiracy to launder the money.
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