A man who lured investors with the promise of lucrative returns from luxury handbag deals has admitted his guilt in a sophisticated fraud scheme.
Jack Watkin, 26, entered guilty pleas to six counts of fraud at Chester Crown Court on Tuesday, the second day of his trial.
Jurors had heard how Mr Watkin cultivated an "outward facade of a glamorous and luxurious lifestyle" to gain the trust of his victims, ultimately leaving them significantly out of pocket.
The indictment against Mr Watkin was amended to reflect changes in the values of the frauds. The prosecution also requested that a further count of fraud and two counts of theft be allowed to lie on file.
Judge Simon Berkson told the jury: “In short, that ends this case.”
Opening the trial on Monday, Matthew Kerruish-Jones, prosecuting, said: “The defendant put forward the outward facade of a glamorous and luxurious lifestyle.
“This, it seems, engendered trust and led a number of individuals to loan him large sums of money on the promise of either a financial return or luxury items. Neither of which materialised.”
He said complainants would be left “out of pocket for large sums of money”.
He added: “The defendant would make excuses and avoid the complainants, all the while spending large sums of money on maintaining his seemingly lavish lifestyle.”
The jury was told bag purchases from Hermes were only allowed to select registered customers and, because of their exclusivity, the bags often attracted a value far in excess of their original price when resold.
Watkin, of Alderley Edge, Cheshire, who in 2016 was featured in Channel 4 documentary Rich Kids Of Instagram, spent his money in Harrods and on stays in five-star hotel The Dorchester in London, according to police.
Detective Constable Gareth Yates said: “Jack Watkin is a male who has built a lifestyle on social media, on Instagram, and that lifestyle is one of exuberance.
“So if anyone was to look at that profile, you would see fancy hotels, luxury cars, designer clothing, and he created a following, and that following allowed him to create a ruse to be the fraudster we now know, and convicted fraudster.”
He added: “He often described himself as the Kardashian of Cheshire. What my understanding from that would be is that he is an individual of wealth and has the ability to purchase wealthy items, as a result of that he then gets notoriety, from an Instagram perspective, followers, people. People follow him with the desire to be him.”
Senior crown prosecutor Laura Atherton said: “Some of these frauds span several years, and so clearly, to be able to convince an individual for that length of time that you are going to repay money and you are going to provide goods, you have to be an incredibly charismatic and persuasive person to keep that up.
“It’s just got to the stage where things had ran on for so long that complainants have then come forward when they come to the realisation, as it’s the crown’s case, that their goods or their money were never going to materialise.”
Watkin, who was remanded in custody, was also convicted earlier this year of nine offences related to indecent images.
He will be sentenced for all offences on September 3.
