Conman Anthony Kemp, jailed for a role in $ 15 billion fraud, lived a high life in New Zealand

A scammer who played a key role in the fraud of £ 8 million ($ NZ15.3b) so that he could go on cruises, play in casinos and live in a luxury apartment in New Zealand was imprisoned for more than

Photos of Anthony Kemp, 62, laughing while he was sailing on cruise ship QE2 – knowing the suffering he was inflicting on hundreds of casualties – were nauseating, said the British judge Sean Morris. He recounts that Kemp had not shown remorse in the box of the defendants.

Kemp, formerly of Birtley, Gateshead, was imprisoned in the Teesside court yard for seven years and one month.

Attorney Dan Cordey said the sophisticated and lengthy fraud was made with Laurence Wheeler, 74, and his son James Wheeler, 48, who were jailed in 2016.

Kemp paid millions in his own accounts, spending a bit of his family in the UK and some on his girlfriend in New Zealand.

Kemp's sentence was delayed as he was serving a prison sentence in New Zealand for a similar fraud. After this conviction, he was deported to the UK

The crooks deceived the victims by joining a secret investment club that promised huge returns, but which was essentially a pyramid scheme without assets

. 350 people, many of whom retired, donated money for what they thought was high performing foreign investment.

When the date of payment was over, the scammers would apologize and ask for more money.

A victim, or "member," said that it was like being brainwashed since they were so sure that a big payoff was going to happen.

They convinced members not to disclose details to others, including the police,

Some believe so far that they will still be paid, heard the court.

To deflect criticism, fraudsters have set up an ethics committee with innocent members acting as a buffer.

One of them, Ken Reid, was receiving phone calls from worried investors on his deathbed, the court said.

His son Anthony, in a victim statement, said: "He was a victim of selfishness.

Kemp moved to New Zealand and lived in a rented apartment in one Auckland's most exclusive addresses, described by the real estate agent as being "as close to heaven as life on earth allows."

Morris J. told Kemp: "In the course of this period, you were a very sophisticated fraudster, depriving people of money, persuading them that they were going to get fabulous and incredible returns.

"You have deceived people with their savings of a lifetime and it was ruthless

" People were still paying because they had been so deep, that they were n & rsquo; They were not ready to accept that they had been fooled.

"They hoped and prayed that the promises of fraudsters, as they now know them, come true."

years, people were worried about whether it was going to be okay, it's years and years of anguish that you and your co-accused imposed on these people while you lived high life, to keep a girlfriend in New Zealand and a wife in This country, a luxury vacation, living in luxury apartments of high value.

"I've seen nauseating pictures of all the laughs you had while this misery was inflicted. "

The judge said that people had lost their economics They had to sell their homes, face being bankrupt in their eighties and can no longer afford a burial.

Defense attorney Peter Sabiston said that Kemp was a few steps behind Laurence Wheeler in seniority.