23 Dec
A poker-playing playboy scam artist who claims connections to British royalty has been convicted of an eBay fraud which netted him thousands of pounds.
Nigel Goldman, who claims he ‘bought’ a peerage entitling him to call himself Sir Nigel, was found guilty of swindling customers on the online auction site by promising them krugerrands, South African gold coins, and sovereigns – which he failed to deliver.
The one-time ‘high-stakes’ poker pro is also wanted for questioning over an elaborate fraud scheme in Spain through which brought him another £55,000 ($82,000).
56-year old Goldman, whose Hendon Mob poker record shows tournament winnings of $37,461 claims both James Hewitt (Princess Diana’s former lover) and Sir Mark Thatcher (son of the reviled late British Prime Minister) among his social circle.
The total amount of money which Goldman – who changed his name to Howard Del Monte by deed poll – fleeced from various customers and investors may well exceed £3million, and he has claimed to living in fear of his life from ‘gang members’ in Spain.
Aside from the conviction for the eBay coin fraud, he also allegedly promised huge cash returns for Spanish-based investors in Moroccan-based firms. However he fled the country, leaving his financial backers in the dark about the promised returns.
According to a recent newspaper report:
One investor alone is demanding to know what happened to a £436,861 ‘nest egg’ he entrusted to Goldman.”
Goldman’s fall from grace has been spectacular. Previously convicted and jailed for fraud in England, he described his crimes in his autobiography, ‘ High Stakes: How I Blew £14 million’, before re-inventing himself as an investment adviser in Marbella, Spain.
While living on the Costa de Sol, he was a renowned poker player in the area, and was also a food critic and radio star – his trademark red Ferrari a familiar sight in the area where he lived in a luxurious villa.
However, the champagne high-life came to an abrupt end in January of last year when a Sunday Mercury newspaper investigation exposed his allegedly fraudulent property ‘Ponzi’ scheme, following which Goldman disappeared from the Spanish mainland, re-appearing “in the sleepy Middle England village of Kintbury.”
When contacted by one of his alleged Spanish-based fraud victims, Goldman appealed his innocence claiming:
Things started to go wrong just over a year ago,” he said. “It seems some of my brokers turned out to be running a Ponzi scheme with everyone’s money. Since then I have been playing catch-up. I did not set out to be a thief.”
These words carry much less weight now that he has been convicted again in the UK of the gold coin eBay scam and Senõr Flores, of Lawbird solicitors who are working on behalf of the Spanish victims stated:
The man is a pathological swindler. He is narcissistic, incredibly vain, pompous and a criminal. All those things come together.”
A former associate of Goldman’s in England also weighed in, saying:
The man couldn’t lie straight in bed!” adding: “He’s incorrigible. But the problem is he’s so bloody likeable. The man could charm the knickers off a Carmelite nun.”
Goldman may not have the luxury of trying this out as he is due to be sentenced for his eBay fraud early in January. Any conviction in Spain would carry a sentence of up to 10 years, and extradition proceedings would likely ensue if he fails to voluntarily respond to the Spanish authorities.
