A fashion designer conned investors out of thousands of pounds by flogging fake Oscars tickets where he claimed they would meet A-list stars, a court has heard.
Alvin Loy is accused of offering bogus trips to Los Angeles and the chance to meet the likes of Julia Roberts.
A court heard the 50-year-old pretended to be a high-flyer in the world of fashion and film while running an ‘almost imaginary’ haute couture fashion business.
He also lied about working for Christian Dior when he was employed by Laura Ashley in order to swindle ‘star struck’ investors, it is claimed.
Jurors were told Loy even persuaded a doctor to invest £100,000 into his fashion business before splurging the cash in casinos.
He appeared today at Birmingham Crown Court charged with obtaining services by deception and four counts of fraud.
Alvin Loy is accused of offering bogus trips to Los Angeles and the chance to meet the likes of Julia Roberts
A court heard the 50-year-old pretended to be a high-flyer in the world of fashion and film while running an ‘almost imaginary’ haute couture fashion business
Prosecutor Andrew Wilkins said tickets promised to the Oscars ceremony or returns on any investments never materialised.
He said: ‘He made out he was successful and had connections with stars in the fashion world and world of film.’
In November 2009 he met Dr Sohan Nagra at a charity auction where he had ‘donated’ the tickets for the Oscars.
Mr Wilkins said: ‘He was beguiled by Loy and Dr Nagra paid £12,000 in the charity auction for items that Loy had donated, a trip for two to the Oscar ceremonies in Los Angeles.
‘Dr Nagra no doubt thought that was something that money cannot buy.
‘Of course, the reality is that tickets to the Oscar ceremony is something that money can not buy.’
Loy is accused of making out he had connections with stars in the fashion and film world
The 50-year-old allegedly duped star-struck investors into buying fake trips to the Oscars
Mr Wilkins told the court tickets for the ceremony were tightly controlled, by personal invite only and non-transferable.
He said Dr Nagra was also encouraged to invest in Loy’s fashion business, with a promise he would get a 50 per cent share of any profits.
He said Loy went on to contact a former client, Elaine Armstrong, and told her that Dr Nagra had not been able to attend the Oscars and sold them to her for £5,000.
He repeated to her the bogus claims he knew Julia Roberts and worked for Christian Dior but later told her the Oscar trip had been cancelled, jurors heard.
Loy is accused of offering bogus trips to Los Angeles and the chance to meet the likes of Julia Roberts, who he claimed he was personal friends with
Mrs Armstrong said she and her husband paid more £6,000 for flights, entrance to the Oscars and three nights in Beverly Hills.
She said: ‘It all seems stupid now but at the time it seemed like it was real.
‘He led us to believe that Dior had a table every year. He said the money was going to the Princess Royal Trust.
‘He said we could go to the Julia Roberts party and that he knew her personally.’
During one business meeting Loy told Mrs Armstrong that he didn’t have a favourite celebrity – but knew ‘all of them.’
The clips, which were recorded by Mrs Armstrong and her husband Jolyon Emery, were played to the court today.
During a phone conversation on July 2 2011, in which Loy revealed that he was giving up his business and moving back to Malaysia in September of that year, he repeatedly told Mrs Armstrong he was ‘not running away’.
He told her: ‘I have no alternative or choice because of the money situation.
‘I will finish in the end of September, and then I will not work for them (Dior) anymore.
‘Please do not think: ‘He will run away from all the money he owes me’. I will not do that. I will find a way.
‘There’s the website, and everything like that costs money. If I stop everything now, then I get my wage for three months and that will hopefully help.
‘I can keep fighting now. I will sell the car now – I own that Mercedes. I will not run away from things.’
The court also heard Loy re-mortgaged his home in 2006 and was given £250,000 by Northern Rock after lying about being in full-time work with Laura Ashley and using a bogus employee number.
Mr Wilkins said when attempts were made to repossess his house in 2011, he claimed to be working for another firm and submitted forged bank statements and pay slips.
The trial continues.
The 50-year-old persuaded investors to purchase fake tickets to the Oscars, a court heard
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