City fraudster spent millions on life in the fast lane

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Marc Duchesne, 47, promised investors their money was safe and then squandered it on cars, including Ferraris. He was sentenced at Southwark crown court today after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud between October 2004 and July 2006.

Passing sentence Judge Michael Gledhill QC told Duchesne: "This case is about greed." Duchesne set up a fraudulent investment company where 12 million and almost £3 million was deposited. He then bought a Ferrari Enzo, a Rolls-Royce Phantom, a Bentley Arnage and several Humvees and motorbikes. He bought a speedboat for a friend and chartered private planes as well as spending £60,000 on cosmetic dentistry, £22,000 a time on cigars and £1 million on his flat.

Duchesne, of East Finchley, falsely claimed his bogus company, Benchmark Asset Managers, was regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

The judge said: "By conspicuous display of wealth you persuaded others, including investors, you were a highly successful hedge fund manager.

"In fact you were quite simply a common fraudster." Duchesne was disqualified from being a director for 10 years.

Co-defendants Thiery Doutrepont, 56, of Shropshire, was given two years. Engineer Michael Gallagher, 65, of Walsall, and Edgar Hutton, 64, from Nottingham, were sentenced to 200 hours unpaid work.