A gambling addict who posed as an investment broker to fleece over £200,000 from the elderly has been jailed. Sean Whelehan, who was already a convicted fraudster, targeted a 91-year-old former businessman in the North East and a retired couple, by promising to invest their cash in a health company between April 2019 and May 2020, Woolwich Crown Court heard on Monday (July 22).
The 42-year-old grifter, of Bromley Road in Beckenham, South London, was helped by a Canadian national, named as Christian Diesveld, who has never been brought before UK courts. At Monday’s hearing, Whelehan admitted he had not paid back a single penny of the defrauded money, though the prosecution confirmed the victims had been reimbursed some of the cash by their banks.
Dirty money also ended up in the accounts of Whelehan’s ex-partner, Tina Scobel, and his sister Denise Whelehan. During a trial for the single count of acquiring criminal property, Denise Whelehan, of Clyde Street in Sheerness, Kent, denied knowing about the money’s criminal provenance, but the 41-year-old’s story – described as ‘completely implausible’ by the judge – was rejected by the jury.
READ MORE: Ladbroke Grove shooting leaves boy, 15, dead after gunman ‘appeared from bushes’
The court heard Michael Riley, a former director of a filtration company in Stockton-on-Tees, was contacted by Mr Diesveld in late 2018 with the offer of an investment opportunity. At a hotel meeting in Staffordshire on June 3, 2019, Mr Diesveld, posing as a representative of Salutem Capital Ventures, offered shares in US ‘medical firm’ Health Advanced Incorporation.
After the meeting, Mr Riley was contacted by Whelehan, posing as a man called Philip Smith, who said he was handling the business side of the investment on behalf of Mr Diesveld. The imaginary Mr Smith then told Mr Riley how much money to move into the Salutem bank account.
When that account was closed in October 2019, ‘Mr Smith’ told Mr Riley to move more money to Denise Whelehan’s account. After her account was closed in March 2020, ‘Mr Smith’ then told Mr Riley to start transferring money to his own account, in Sean Whelehan’s name, until that too was closed in October 2020.
In May of that year, Whelehan sent Mr Riley an email signed by ‘Philip Smith, Senior Investment Analyst’, telling him his shares had been sold for £784,000 and he needed £24,000 to execute the sale. Then, in September, Mr Smith told Mr Riley the sale had been completed and he needed another £25,000 to cover management fees.
In total, Mr Riley transferred £85,750 to Denise Whelehan, £26,000 to Sean Whelehan, and £29,995 to Salutem, for a total of £141,745. The Crown Prosecution Service said the loss ‘seriously affected’ Mr Riley’s ability to live his life, and depleted his wealth which had been earned through ‘a lifetime of careful saving and investment’.
Valerie Muir and her husband Ian were also preyed on by Whelehan in the same period. Their daughter Susan, who sat in the public gallery, spoke of her personal stress, and the impact on her wider family, upon finding out hundreds-of-thousands of pounds had been transferred from her parents’ accounts into a sham investment scheme.
“Their behaviour devastated the lives of not just my parents, but our whole family,” she said in her statement, adding: “The impact has been far reaching. We have not been the same since. Our family has changed forever.”
‘I was a victim of deception’
Denise Whelehan received payments of £77,500, £10,000, and £4,259, while Salutem received £300,510, for a total of £392,260. A further £62,500 in cheques were rejected by the bank. Recorder James Thacker KC said there was ‘no evidence’ any of the money was ever invested, as promised by Mr Diesveld, and was instead used to ‘enrich’ the defendants.
Denise Whelehan received a total of £177,500, which she laundered by transferring to Tina Scobel, and by taking out large amounts in cash. Scobel received a total of £81,500, some of which she transferred back to Sean Whelehan and also withdrew in cash. Sean Whelehan also withdrew large amounts in cash.
The court heard Mr and Mrs Muir had been reimbursed for £384,000 of their losses, while Mr Riley had been reimbursed £41,000 from his bank. Whelehan’s barrister confirmed he had failed to anything back before Monday’s hearing.
Whelehan was arrested and questioned at Lewisham Police Station in January 2022, but denied any knowledge of the fraud and instead claimed he was ‘the victim of a deception by an unnamed third party’. He later pleaded guilty to the offences.
Denise Whelehan made no comment during her interview and denied the charge of acquiring criminal property. At the trial she claimed she had no idea the money was from criminal activity, but this tale was rejected by the jury.
Recorder Thacker came to a final fraud figure of £534,000, but this was not accepted by the defence in Whelehan’s basis of plea. The judge said the basis ‘did not correspond entirely with the facts’, but decided a separate hearing – to determine those facts – would not make ‘a material difference’ to his sentence.
Sean Whelehan was previously convicted of shoplifting in 1998, burglary in 1999, and attempting to obtain property by deception in 2000. He also received a suspended prison sentence for affray in 2009, having been convicted of the same offence a year earlier.
Ahead of her money laundering offence, Denise Whelehan was serving a suspended sentence for assaulting a police officer and carrying a blade in 2018. She admitted breaching her suspended sentence after she was convicted by the jury.
‘You should both be thoroughly ashamed’
Defence counsel Gabriel Watts, for Sean Whelehan, called for a suspended sentence as she outlined his drinking and gambling problem, with at around £13,000 spent on one betting outlet. Though finding a job had been difficult, as a convicted fraudster, Ms Watts said Whelehan had secured a non-drinking salesman role at a whiskey wholesalers, dependant on the outcome of his sentence.
Bryan Kennedy, for Denise Whelehan, also argued for a suspended sentence, as he asked the judge to consider the impact of incarceration on her children, including who eldest who she cares for full time.
While he accepted Whelehan had been addicted to gambling and alcohol, Recorder Thacker noted it he still had the ‘wherewithal’ to defraud his victims.
“One can only imagine the devastation and gut wrenching feeling upon the realisation that a substantial amount of money was transferred to fraudsters,” said the judge.
“This was a calculated and wicked act of sheer greed to line your pockets. You, Sean Whelehan, targeted elderly individuals, who were vulnerable, naive, and trusting.
“You, Denise Whelehan, knew full well the monies coming into your accounts were the proceeds of criminal activity and you turned a willing and blind eye to that. The account you gave the jury at the trial was completely implausible and lacked any credibility. You should both be thoroughly ashamed.”
Sean Whelehan was jailed for five years and two months for two counts of fraud by false representation, with a concurrent sentence of four years 10 months for money laundering. Denise Whelehan received a two year sentence, suspended for 20 months, for money laundering, and must do 200 hours unpaid work and 20 days of rehabilitation activity requirement.
Got a story or a court case we should cover? Please email [email protected] or WhatsApp 07580255582
Don’t miss out on the latest crime stories from across London. Sign up to MyLondon’s Court & Crime newsletter HERE
