A UK-based man who fraudulently purported he could provide valuable standby letters of credit (L/Cs) has been jailed for eight years.

Keith Morgan defrauded a US businessman of £1 million (US$1.3m) by boasting he owned some of the most valuable land in Hollywood.

Hollywood property

A Welsh court heard that Morgan pretended to be a respected Welsh businessman with significant funds.

Morgan told New York-based Wa'el Chenab he owned land in Hollywood which he hoped to develop, and that he had been in discussions with actor Tom Cruise about this.

L/C claims

The Welsh businessman claimed that on receipt of funds from Chenab to progress his property development plans, he could provide standby L/Cs from banks to secure any funding he received.

Morgan had told Chenab he could provide his company with two L/Cs from HSBC, one for US$10 million (£7.6 million) and another for US$200 million (£152 million), but the US businessman received no genuine documents.

Funds received by Morgan were partially spent on cars, motorbikes, hotels and restaurants. He was also given an eight-month jail sentence for possessing a hunting knife in public.

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