Trickster in £250m bid to sell Ritz faces prison

Jobless lorry driver Anthony Lee, 49, chose his mark well, finding victims who were interested in the high-stakes world of trophy properties and sucking them in with false promises until they handed over 1 million, Southwark Crown Court in central London heard.

Remanding him in custody, Judge Stephen Robbins said Lee faces an "immediate and quite substantial custodial sentence" on 27 July.

Lee was at the heart of a con based on "one great big lie", convincing potential buyer Terence Collins that he was a "close friend and associate" of the reclusive billionaire Barclay brothers, owners of the prestigious hotel in Piccadilly.

But Sir Frederick and Sir David Barclay had never met or even heard of Lee and were completely unaware he was claiming to be able to sell the landmark building from under their noses.

During the four-week trial, Lee, an undischarged bankrupt who had a police caution for theft and was behind with his rent at the time of the scam, insisted he was just a "straight-talking Yorkshireman".

Almost the first thing he did when the money landed in his account was transfer 435,000 to his friend Patrick Dolan, 68, the court heard.

Dolan said spent the money on living the high life. The Irishman took out up to €40,000 euros in cash a day (then worth about 27,000) for gambling and lost €185,000 (about 125,000) on the horses. He also bought a 42,000 Mercedes and paid off his €46,000 (about 31,000) mortgage.

He told the court: "I had a good time. A wise man told me there's no shops in the graveyard."