A £1 million Ponzi scheme “mastermind” who led a gang of fraudsters using aliases inspired by films and TV shows to con victims out of their cash has been jailed for more than five years.

James Gillingham’s “brokers” posed as characters including Harvey Specter from US legal drama Suits and Jonathan Hart from crime series Hart To Hart as they cold-called people into handing over their savings between June 2015 and October 2016.

One victim, who invested more than £35,000, said: “The investment was supposed to be our life boat, instead it was our Titanic.”

Another, who lost more than £3,000, said he felt “terrible” after recommending the investment to his family, who also lost savings.

A different victim said that losing more than £45,000 had set their life back by five or six years.

Gillingham, 38, also sought to make his companies appear legitimate by claiming they operated from prestigious London locations including Canary Wharf and the Gherkin, prosecutors say.

But investigators found the Canary Wharf “office” was merely a mail-forwarding address, while only one desk was leased at the Gherkin.

More than 60 victims handed over a total of £1 million after being promised guaranteed monthly returns of between 0.5% and 5%, depending on how much they invested, as well as a profit after 12 months.

The largest amount taken from a single victim was £133,900.

But none of the £1 million was actually invested, according to City of London Police, and while some victims received investment income, none got back their full investment or made any profit, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

Gillingham was instead running a Ponzi scheme in which money was used to fund staff payments, business overheads and dividend payments to existing investors rather than generating profits through genuine trading activity.

Those working for his companies, Choice Option and Blue Crest Capital Options, used aggressive tactics to persuade people to invest, including pleading with them and accusing reluctant victims of wasting traders’ time, prosecutors said.

About £650,000 was used to pay staff, including more than £200,000 to Gillingham himself and more than £70,000 to Sujanthan Sotheeswaran, labelled his “lieutenant” by Judge Martin Griffith.

Investors were paid £167,681 in supposed “dividends”, while around £170,000 went towards office costs and other running expenses.

By October 2016, investors could no longer access their online accounts, contact company staff or withdraw their funds.

Gillingham, who used to live at Hyde Park Gate in Kensington, left the UK in 2016 and remained abroad for years as investigators sought to bring him before the courts.

Born in Rochford, Essex, he had been living in Singapore, where he was convicted of an assault charge, before he was deported back to the UK in August 2025.

The defendant was arrested at Heathrow Airport on his return.

Gillingham tried to secure bail using a fake tenancy agreement for a rental property.

He pleaded guilty to fraud, money laundering and perverting the course of justice and was sentenced to five years and six months’ imprisonment at Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday.

The judge told him: “I consider that it was your fraud and you handled the money.”

He added: “This has been described throughout as a £1 million fraud.

“That is a reference to the loss caused.

“As a Ponzi fraud there was a need to attract further investors to allow sums to be repaid to keep original investors sweet.

“The effect of the evidence was that fresh investors were always being sought throughout the operational period.”

The judge added that Gillingham had had a “chequered history while on the run”.

Three others involved in the scheme had already been sentenced in 2024.

Sotheeswaran was jailed at the same court for three years and Denis Deegan for two years and eight months, while Darren Peck was given a 21-month sentence suspended for two years, City of London Police said.

Financial investigator Hayley Wade, from the force, said: “James Gillingham was the driving force behind a sophisticated investment fraud that caused significant financial losses to victims.

“While his co-defendants were brought to justice in 2024, Gillingham remained outside the UK and attempted to avoid facing the consequences of his actions.”

Kate Hurst, from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said: “While James Gillingham’s prison sentence brings one chapter to a close, we must remember the victims who continue to live with the consequences of his fraud.”

The CPS will seek to recover any criminal assets held by Gillingham under the Proceeds of Crime Act and try to pass the proceeds to his victims as compensation.