A six-year prison sentence is on the table for cousin David Bone and former Britain’s Got Talent contestant Liam Collins on charges of business fraud. As a result of the pyramid scheme imploding, Collins and Bone’s 27-property portfolio of student housing investments was in negative equity. They concocted a second, identical scheme, this time convincing investors to part with as much as £1 million by saying the money would be “safe” since it would go toward buying buy-to-let homes. As for the £20 million business agreement, they falsely claimed to have signed off on it.
Nine naive investors lost between £ 5,000 and £50,000 apiece because the funds were used to settle existing portfolio obligations.
A Financial Standards Authority probe led to Collins and Bone’s official declaration of bankruptcy in May 2012.
Prosecutors have requested a term of three to six years in jail for Collins, who will be sentenced tomorrow at Manchester Crown Court after admitting dishonest trading. With a friend, Collins competed in the 2009 season of Britain’s Got Talent and made it to the semi-finals with their dance routine, which featured masks of notable persons.
While the cameras were away, Collins and Bone made a bold allegation that they tried to pay £5 million to £15 million to purchase Michael Jackson’s Neverland mansion in Santa Barbara, California, and convert it into a shrine honoring the artist. But that same year, the CBS group, the couple’s business, went bankrupt with £3 million in debts, and mortgage lenders ordered receivers to collect payments from the couple’s house rentals.
The following year, Collins and Bone established CBP, deceiving investors with the promise of “high-interest returns” via the acquisition, refurbishment, and leasing of more student residences.
After a failed business agreement between Bone’s father and another company fell through, the court heard that the two were claiming a £20 million split.