Towie star ‘helped con retiree out of £27k’

Towie star Lewis Bloor helped con a retired social worker out of £27,000 in a £3m diamond investment scam, a court heard.

The 31-year-old former Celebrity Big Brother contestant allegedly posed as ‘Thomas Harkin’ in the fraud that ran from May 2013 to June 2014, jurors heard.

David Durose, QC, prosecuting, said ‘Harkin’ phoned the woman in July 2013 from Imperial Assets Solutions and said she could make a significant profit if she bought a £5,400 coloured stone.

But when she called back a week later to purchase the diamond, she was told it had already been sold, but a £9,900 gem had become available, which she bought, jurors heard.

But she was later told it would be easier to sell the stone if she had a pair, and was offered a £12,021.04 stone, and later persuaded to buy another £5,200 diamond, jurors heard.

Mr Durose said: ‘She found out in October 2014 that Imperial Assets had gone into liquidation.

‘She had lost over £27,000.’

Bloor along with Joseph Jordan, 28, Max Potter, 25, George Walters, 29, Nathan Wilson, 27, and Simon Akbari, 27, all deny conspiracy to defraud.

The alleged fraud relates to two companies, Imperial Assets Solutions and Henderson & Forbes, which were involved in selling coloured diamonds.

Southwark Crown Court has heard each of the defendants were involved in both, except for Bloor who left the enterprise in the second half of 2013 to pursue a career in television.

Quoting from a brochure for Henderson and Forbes, the prosecutor said: ‘Our passion for diamonds spans more than 70 years, drawing on a heritage going back over generations..’

Mr Durose said: ‘None of its staff had any ‘heritage’ in or ‘passion for’ the diamond industry, they were just trying to make money.’

Bloor joined the Towie cast for its tenth series in 2013 and appeared for three years on the show where he had whirlwind romances with co-stars Chloe Lewis and Kate Wright.

He left to later appear in the Celebrity Big Brother House in 2016 and got together with Marnie Simpson while inside.

Bloor, of Buckhurst Hill, Essex, Jordan, of Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, Potter, of Enfield, north London, Walters, of Beckenham, south London, Wilson, of Brentwood, Essex, and Akbari, of Loughton, Essex, all deny conspiracy to defraud between May 7 2013 and July 1 2014.

The trial continues.
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