A Tinder swindler who bragged about his £6.8million net worth, owning private jets and buying a hot air balloon was actually a father of two with less than a pound to his name.
Richard Dexter, 41, who conned a millionairess out of almost £150,000 a decade ago still hasn’t paid her back – claiming he has lost the password to his cryptocurrency fortune.
Dexter of Portsmouth, Hampshire, was jailed for four and a half years after he tricked victim Amrita Sebastian into believing he was a ‘successful businessman’, having met her on dating app Tinder.
The con man boasted about his fortune of millions, flying around in private jets, being ‘involved in Hollywood studios’ and buying a hot air balloon ‘just because he could’.
Duping Dubai-based executive Ms Sebastian into sending him £141,500, Dexter claimed he had £4.2million tied up in investments.
But in reality there was just 37p in the account which wasn’t even his.
In one text to Ms Sebastian, Dexter said: ‘Hey! I’m 32, most of my friends did uni and have debts and worries and all earn £40,000 to £60,000. I bought a hot air balloon yesterday just because I could.’
The fraudster was jailed in February 2022 and ordered by a judge to compensate Ms Sebastian in full.
He claimed to have £200,000 in a Bitcoin wallet and promised he could return the money ‘within a day’.
Now, Dexter has applied to the court to say he no longer has the funds to pay back the money he stole.
He said his devices have been ‘damaged or lost’ while he has been in custody and he can no longer find the code to access them.
Father of two Dexter met Ms Sebastian on Tinder in 2015 and posed as a businessman selling biopharmaceutical technology.
He said international companies 3M and Pall Corp were interested in tech equipment for which he had the patents and were willing to make deals worth up to £12million.
He told Miss Sebastian she ‘wouldn’t lose anything’ and that he would pay her £100,000 as interest.
She made a series of payments over the course of 15 months, some as large as £68,000.
Robert Bryan, prosecuting at Winchester Crown Court, said: ‘He alluded to his immense wealth and private jets, expensive cars, and said he had more by way of interest in his investments than a doctor’s salary.’
Three years ago, Dexter said he could provide the money ‘immediately’.
Mr Bryan continued: ‘’Dexter wishes to apply to vary the order.
‘Dexter says he can no longer find the correct seed phrase for his cryptocurrency which he assured the Judge in 2022 he had and could provide immediately.’
A ‘seed phrase’ is a sequence of random words used to access digital funds.
It can be used to recover a crypto wallet if the device it was stored on is lost.
A further hearing will be held at Salisbury Crown Court, Wiltshire, in May to decide the outcome of Dexter’s application.
Dexter’s new barrister Christopher Bealey said there were ‘doubts’ at the time about the conman’s access to the Bitcoin.
‘I think there were doubts about whether he had access – it appears the devices used were not available and have since been damaged or lost.
‘The position will be whether or not Dexter is telling the truth.
‘If he does not have what he says he does not have, it cannot be recovered.’
Jailing him in February 2022, Judge Mousley KC said: ‘I’m left in no doubt that dishonesty is a feature of your character and it is profound.
‘You are someone who shows no hesitation in resorting to lies with an ease that is almost breathtaking.
‘When your truthfulness is challenged you reach for more lies to cover your tracks.
‘There was absolutely no sign of you apologising to Ms Sebastian and there’s little sign of any remorse.’
He admitted seven counts of fraud relating to swindling £141,500 from Ms Sebastian.