A serial swindler who embarked on a quarter-of-a-million-pound plot to defraud businesses has been jailed for more than two years.
Nicholas Whiteside’s epic scam – in which he lied that he had cancer when his many victims asked for their money back – ruined lives, crippled company finances and left several businessmen ruing the day they placed their trust in a prolific fraudster whose crimes put at least one man out of business.
Whiteside, 29, appeared at York Crown Court for sentence after admitting a staggering 21 fraud offences yesterday (Monday).
Prosecutor Brooke Morrison said that 19 of those offences involved the crooked York businessman convincing businesses to buy Apple products which never materialised. The second part of the grand fraud was an investment scam in which he promised investors lucrative returns.
The brazen conman, formerly of Holgate Road, York, was on bail for previous fraud offences when he began selling “unwanted Apple products which he would sell to the (victims) for reduced prices for use in their business”.
Ms Morrison said “large sums” of money were handed over but none of the victims ever saw any Apple products.
Whiteside, who used “numerous excuses” including that he was “having issues with couriers”, would occasionally provide partial refunds “to placate” the victims.
In this first scam, he defrauded the victims out of £155,429. The “outstanding balance” – monies obtained by deception which still hadn’t been repaid – came to £104,340.
The second prong of the vast scam was arguably more audacious than the first.
“He approached business associates asking for funds to allow him to complete the purchase of a new business on the promise they would earn considerable interest,” said Ms Morrison.
“Once the funds were transferred, there were again multiple excuses and delaying tactics to avoid any repayments.”
Again, Whiteside made repayments to some victims to “keep them sweet” during the outrageous, £117,000 con. Of this vast sum, £43,000 was still owed to the victims.
Combined, the Apple-product racket and investment scam had an overall fraud value of £273,409, but the prosecution said the actual loss to the victims was £147,000.
‘My mind collapsed’
It was only when the victims read articles in the media about Whiteside being jailed at Inner London Crown Court in 2022 for a previous grand fraud that their suspicions were confirmed.
He was duly arrested for the new offences in Yorkshire in February last year.
The prosecution read out some of the victim-impact statements including one from a 73-year-old war veteran and businessman who said the effect of Whiteside’s duplicity had been “immense”.
The named victim, a former company sergeant major who had served in the Green Howards for over 20 years, had run a successful business after leaving the army but Whiteside’s fraud meant he couldn’t pay his staff wages.
He said Whiteside had tried to earn his trust by showing him a fake bank statement purporting to show how much money he had in his account.
The conman even offered to help him out when the victim “missed payments for the office rent” which left him several thousand pounds in arrears and led to a mental breakdown, which meant he could no longer operate his business.
As he watched his office equipment being removed “in skips”, Whiteside was back in touch, telling him him he was “dying of cancer” and would leave him some money – about £6,000 – in his will.
The victim said that despite selling his car and the furniture he had collected from his military tours, he was still down £40,000 due to Whiteside’s crimes.
He added: “The day I found out he had gone to prison for the other offences, my mind collapsed. I was a shell of my former self.
“At 73, I have nothing to show for my life’s work except for the deterioration of my health.”
Another victim said Whiteside’s fraud affected his “mental wellbeing” and “took over my life for a year”.
“I would often travel to his place of work…in York to try to get my money,” he added.
“Nick (Whiteside) kept telling me he had cancer which caused me to have sympathy for him, but over time I became more sceptical.”
Misery and anguish
Whiteside’s criminal record comprised 25 offences which began in Birmingham in 2018 when magistrates gave him a community order for fraud. His three-year prison sentence in London two years ago was for 18 counts of fraud by false representation.
In that case, the prolific fraudster caused “misery and anguish” to many people as he conned his way to more than £100,000.
Three police forces worked together to bring him to justice for those scams against individuals and companies in 2018 and 2019, when he targeted rail-ticket providers, retail outlets, a health club and even his own work colleagues.
Defence barrister Benjamin Knight conceded that Whiteside, lately of Rotherham, had a “rank history of dishonesty”.
He said that Whiteside was now working in Human Resources and earning an honest living on good money.
Judge Sean Morris said Whiteside was a practised “fraudster”, saying: “Even when you were on bail facing serious offences (in London), you were bang at it.
“You knew that there were other victims; you knew that one (victim) had to borrow from their family (and) people whose businesses went to the wall.”
Mr Morris said Whiteside didn’t have a “scrap of remorse” and had turned one of his victims, the war veteran, into a “nervous wreck” whose life had been “devastated” by the callous con.
Whiteside, of Osborne Road, Kiveton Park, was jailed for two years and eight months.