A FRAUDSTER from Mobberley left his victims feeling ‘anxious, stressed and embarrassed’ after conning them out of over £14,500, a court heard.

Bradley Semp, 38 and of Pavement Lane, sent a business proposal to two people whom he had previously struck legitimate business deals with, offering a profit share if they invested, Liverpool Crown Court was told on Thursday.

After growing suspicious and asking for their investment back, Semp sent them ‘bogus’ screenshots of his bank account showing the transaction had taken place.

Semp did pay the money back to them in full three years later, but only when the police had ‘caught up with him’.

In a statement read out by Simon Duncan, prosecuting, the court heard how in November 2014, the first complainant had been invited to accept a business proposal in which he would receive a profit share from the sale of Apple IT hardware.

As he trusted the man, he transferred an initial £5,000 which rose to £9,675 after further investment, but no receipts were ever issued for the investment or for the purchase of the goods.

After failing to receive any profits, the complainant asked for his investment back, which never arrived in his account due to what Semp called a ‘security issue’.

The defendant provided a fake screenshot of his bank account showing the transaction had been made, but after further excuses, the fraud was reported to the police in September 2015.

The second case involving a different claimant unfolded in the same way.

After growing suspicious of Semp asking for more money on top of his original £5,000 without issuing a profit share, the complainant also asked for his initial investment to be returned.

Security issues were again cited, and the same bogus screenshots were provided, which also led to the claimant contacting the police.

After being arrested at Manchester Airport in August 2017, Semp claimed the proposal was genuine at the time, and that he required the investment money to live on as he fell into financial difficulty.

Statements from his bank account showed the money had been paid in from the claimants, but no evidence of him purchasing the Apple stock could be found, although he did repay them in full in December 2017.

In mitigation, Julian Nutter said: “The money taken was repaid in full and the defendant pleaded guilty at first opportunity.

“He is remorseful for his actions and custody would have a harmful impact on others, including his daughter who suffers from health problems.”

Judge Brian Cummings QC, in sentencing, said: “You established trust with your victims, but abused this by defrauding them of over £14,000 with an investment which was bogus.

“You did repay both claimants in full in December 2017, albeit this was three years after the first investment, and at which stage the police had caught up with you.”

Semp was handed a six-month suspended sentence, is required to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay £600 in court costs.