Last updated 13:41, Monday, 06 October 2008

AN international conman from south Cumbria who faked a jet-set lifestyle is behind bars
after cheating his victims out of hundred of thousands of pounds.
In a plot eerily similar to the story of
Leonardo DiCaprio’s fraudster in the
Hollywood blockbuster Catch Me If You Can, Anthony De Clerck passed himself off as a US spook, a lawyer in Paris, a businessman in Monaco, a company manager in Brussels and a Jewish nobleman.
In March, De Clerck was arrested by Cumbria Police investigating an alleged hotel fraud. When they checked with Interpol they
discovered he had many aliases, including Chris Albert Vermeersch and alleged nobleman Peter van Damme.
He is still being investigated over the
disappearance of £100,000 from the accounts of Graythwaite Manor Hotel, in Grange, where he had worked as a chef and manager.
Belgian De Clerck, 39, of Cartmel, even conned his girlfriend into loaning him thousands of pounds.
His fictitious background was revealed at York Crown Court, where he admitting
cheating his unnamed girlfriend, committing deception and perverting the course of justice by giving police a false name and date of birth when arrested at her home in Whitby, North Yorkshire.
He was jailed for two-and-a-half years on September 16.
Miss X, as she was referred to in court, met
De Clerck on holiday in Italy in August 2004 in a bar.
He told her his name was Rudiger Sloot and after they became friends he said his wallet and passport had been stolen.
Over the next week she met him regularly and paid for everything because he said he had no money – he even showed her three blank cheques, each for $5,000, saying he would pay her back when he cashed them.
When Miss X returned home he began ringing
her asking for money and she wired him a further £1,000.
Within days of her arriving home he arrived on her doorstep with no luggage and asked to stay for a few weeks until his finances were straight.

In the ensuing months he conned her into:

l Believing he had secured a job doing top secret work for the United States government at Menwith Hill, an RAF base in Harrogate.

l Hiring him a Volvo for two weeks at a cost of £1,500.

l Buying a brand new £13,000 BMW from Reg Vardy in her name.

l Purchasing a £500 military uniform off the
internet after he said he was being transferred to the Navy.

l Buying a £150 coat to keep him warm on the base.

l Lending him £120 for a business trip to London.

l Buying a £400 computer for his work.

Callous De Clerck even borrowed £100 off Miss X to buy her a Christmas present, only to buy himself a printer.
When she asked him about his wages, he told
her that they had been paid into the wrong
account.
When he was arrested in March 2005 at Miss X’s home after she became suspicious and dialled 999, he told police he intended to pay her back and had done DIY in her house which had increased its value by £55,000 – which she denied.
During the police investigation they recovered a briefcase from the utility room which contained a forged passport, 14 medals, military letters and three blank cheques for $5,000 each.
They found De Clerck had stolen the identity of
the real Mr Sloot to commit frauds throughout Europe.
Interpol said he had also passed himself off as a criminal lawyer in Paris, a businessman with huge wealth in Monaco, the manager of a company with a seat in Brussells, and a Jewish nobleman.
In the process he had been conning people out of hundreds of thousands of pounds to live a luxurious lifestyle.