Mottingham lottery conman jailed for six years after bagging £788,297 (From News Shopper)

Mottingham conman Patrick Emuh jailed for six years after bagging £788,297 from tricked 'lottery winners'

5:33pm Tuesday 8th January 2013 in News By Sarah Trotter

Patrick Emuh

A MOTTINGHAM conman has been sentenced to six years in jail after bagging £788,297 from tricked ‘lottery winners’.

Patrick Emuh, of Bromhedge, cold-called and emailed at least 20 people from across the globe telling them they had won the lottery or inherited money from a distant relative.

The fraudster then instructed his victims to pay advance fees, taxes and handling charges to get their hands on the windfall.

The 54-year-old was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on January 8 to six years in prison after being found guilty of 19 counts of acquiring criminal property.

Before being sentenced for "fraud on an industrial scale" Emuh waved and exchanged smiles with a public gallery packed with family members.

The father of four preyed on victims – who were asked to pay the money into bank accounts or by cash transfer - between 2005 and 2008, and was first arrested in 2006.

Defending, Pamela Brain said debt-ridden Emuh had lived with his wife in a "dilapidated" house and the stress on the family since his arrest seven years ago had been high.

But sentencing Judge David Higgins said: "That you have caused distress to your family I do not doubt but the responsibility for that is yours and yours alone.

"You chose to lead a criminal lifestyle and you must accept the consequences.

"I do not for a moment accept that you are remorseful – no doubt you regret being caught but nothing more."

He added: "It was plain from the evidence that this was fraud on an industrial scale which went far beyond your personal involvement but nevertheless your involvement was substantial.

"All the court needs to know is that your role was a significant one and for all practical purposes you have become a career criminal who routinely committed serious crimes on an almost daily basis.

"Your behaviour was deplorable and deeply anti-social."

Judge Higgins went on to say the "poverty of his defence" of being an "innocent dupe" in the scam was reflected in the jury’s unanimous guilty verdict on December 4 last year.

He also recommended that Emuh be deported.