Former Southampton fraudster wipes out man's pension fund

Former Southampton crook Philip Whettingsteel stole £275,000 from Rory O’Mara of Closed Bridging Finance, leaving the 52-year-old's early retirement plans in tatters.

His crimes caused so much anguish that a website was even set up warning people about him - and branding the 72-year-old as 'pond life' and a 'scumbag'.

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Speaking on the distressing ordeal, Mr O’Mara from Kings Worthy, near Winchester, said: “Our home is at risk, and my sanity. There isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t feel sick.

“He has not made any attempt to repay a single penny of his debts."

Prosecutor Michael Foster told Southampton Crown Court how in 2017, Whettingsteel requested three loans from Mr O’Mara.

At the time, Whettingsteel was director of PWT Recycle Ltd, an aggregates and waste company based at Bevois Park in Southampton.

He claimed he needed loans worth £275,000 to solve 'cash flow issues' - but the ‘convincing’ scammer pocketed the pounds for himself, stealing 79 per cent of Mr O’Mara’s life savings.

To make matters worse, Mr Foster told the court that when Whettingsteel was eventually interviewed by police, he claimed he had been 'stitched up' by the victim.

Mr O'Mara said: "I could never comprehend that an individual can be so utterly dishonest. Our hard-earned money had been sunk into a black hole.

“Our lives after the fraud were nothing short of traumatic.”

Around 2018, a website with the name philipwhettingsteel.com was set up to warn people of his crimes.

Using a photo of Whettingsteel with a balaclava over it, much of it is written as if by the criminal himself.

It claims to teach people how to 'make a very good living year in, year out by just cheating, robbing, scamming and outright deceiving people and companies to their faces with no shame whatsoever'.

It goes on to say: "To be honest you will be considered pond life and a scumbag just like me but what are a few names when you can get hold of the sort of money that I get."

Those behind the website said they planned to open pages on social media where people could upload news about him to 'stop someone else getting hurt'.

In November last year, Whettingsteel, now of Barton-on-Sea, pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud against Mr O'Mara.

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Defending Whettingsteel at his sentencing on Thursday at Southampton Crown Court, Giles Bedloe said he 'did not intend to deprive Close Bridging Finance of the funds permanently'.

Judge Brian Forster KC described Whettingsteel’s actions as a ‘betrayal of Mr O’Mara’s trust’.

He said: “The offending has had a considerable and understandable effect on Mr O’Mara and his family.

“He was trying to build up a fund to allow for his eventual retirement.

“His dreams were dashed. In my judgement, the offending has had a serious detrimental effect on Mr O’Mara and his family.”

Whettingsteel was handed a prison sentence of two and a half years and a company director’s disqualification order for six years.