A fraudster dubbed ‘The Wolf of Essex’ after masterminding a £1million Ponzi scheme has been jailed for more than five years.

James Gillingham, 38, ran a team of cold-callers posing as brokers who ‘callously’ duped people into handing over their life savings between June 2015 and October 2016.

Taking aliases from TV dramas and films including Harvey Specter from US legal drama Suits and Jonathan Hart from crime series Hart To Hart, they promised ‘substantial profits and guaranteed monthly returns’ on investments.

But not a single pound was actually invested, with most of the £1,255,220.79 proceeds being used for staff payments, overheads and dividend payments.

One victim, who handed over more than £35,000, said: ‘The investment was supposed to be our lifeboat, instead it was our Titanic.’

Gillingham, who lived in a luxury Singapore waterfront apartment, pocketed more than £202,000 from the con.

He was jailed for five years and six months at Southwark Crown Court today after previously pleading guilty to fraud and concealing criminal property.

James Fletcher, prosecuting, earlier described the scam as a ‘boiler room fraud’ using ‘cold calls and brochures’.

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.

‘They were categorised as risky investments that are now prohibited by the financial investigator,’ he said.

‘The defendant was the prime mover behind the fraud. There was no legitimate investment.’

‘Most of the funds were used for staff payments and overheads.’

In total, investors paid £1,255,220.79 but not one pound of the cash was invested.

One victim said: ‘I feel terrible for recommending the investment to my family.’

Another described being left feeling ‘depressed, humiliated, hurt and angry’.

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

Around £650,000 was used to pay staff, including more than £70,000 to Sujanthan Sotheeswaran, labelled Gillingham’s ‘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.

Gillingham left the UK in 2016 and remained abroad for years as investigators sought to bring him before the courts.

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.

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 £1million 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.’

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.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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