A fraudster who claimed to be a special forces soldier-turned multimillionaire cancer patient has been sentenced to more than three years in prison.
Joseph Gibson, 35, took almost £68,000 from his four victims, two of whom he had met on the dating app Tinder, and convinced one they were in a relationship.
Gibson, from Penbryn Nant, in Ruthin, Denbighshire, lied that he had been worth hundreds of millions of pounds, had served in the Special Boat Service, and owned yachts.
He was sentenced to three years and two months at Bristol Crown Court on Thursday, after pleading guilty to four charges of fraud by false representation.
Another hearing will take place to work out how he can repay his victims.
The sentencing hearing heard that one victim was persuaded to send Gibson money for business opportunities, hospital expenses and online trading. She lost more than £5,600 and described she had suffered “anxiety and emotional distress”.
Another, known as SC handed over more than £30,000 when Gibson claimed he could make substantial returns through investments and trading. She lost £21,000 after getting only about £9,700 back and said she had been left “heavily in debt”.
Another, JH, invested based on Gibson’s claims that he was a successful businessman. She gave him £28,000 and got £10,000 back and said it had affected her relationships with her children.
The fourth victim, a retired super yacht captain known as PH, invested £23,350 and said he had suffered “severe” emotional impact.
Gibson’s barrister asked the judge at Bristol Crown Court, Recorder Jaron Crooknorth, to defer sentencing and said that it would give him time to earn money with which to repay the victims.
But the prosecution raised concerns over his finances and his credibility, saying there had been hundreds of thousands of pounds going through his accounts, but it had been spent on cars and overseas travel.
The judge told Gibson his offending was “serious, sophisticated and sustained” and had involved deception from the “very first contact” with his victims.
He said that between July 2020 and October 2021, Gibson used false names, had invented business opportunities, and had used fake bank statements to show apparent substantial wealth to persuade them to hand money over.
He said the victims had suffered “significant financial and emotional harm” as a result, with some left heavily in debt and with damaged relationships.
The judge said that Gibson had previously tried to persuade the court that he had not deliberately deceived the victims, but he said the evidence had shown “deception was central” to his offending.
He said that there was little mitigation other than he had no previous convictions and had expressed some remorse, and he said that only immediate custody was appropriate.
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