'Lord' Edward Davenport: millionaire fraudster forced to sell his 'sex party' mansion to avoid jail
The self-styled “Lord” Edward was forced to sell the 24-bed property to repay court asset-confiscation orders
It has starred in an Oscar-winning film and hosted celebrities and “porn-disco” sex parties. Now the central London mansion of convicted fraudster “Lord” Edward Davenport is in the spotlight again – to demonstrate that fraud does not pay.
The self-styled “Lord” Edward was forced to sell the 24-bed property, used in the film The King’s Speech, to repay court asset-confiscation and compensation orders and avoid a further 10-year jail sentence, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has announced.
Davenport, convicted and sentenced for his role in a multimillion-pound advanced-fee fraud in 2011, has satisfied £13m worth of his confiscation and compensation orders, the SFO said.
Fellow fraudster Virendra Rastogi, convicted and sentenced in 2008 for a financial trading fraud, also paid £5.4m towards a £20m confiscation order through the sale of his central London home. Unlike Davenport, who was freed on health grounds, Rastogi is serving a further seven years for failure to pay the full sum.
Mark Thompson, at the SFO, said: “Criminals should not be able to benefit from the fruits of their crimes and the sale of the properties should serve as a timely warning to those considering committing fraud that their assets, including family homes, are not protected and remain liable to confiscation.”
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies