'friend To The Stars' Conman Is Jailed.

30-09-2006 08:01

'friend To The Stars' Conman Is Jailed.An English conman pretending to close friends with actors such as DUSTIN HOFFMAN has being jailed for 18 months for fraud.RICHARD MASKERY tricked his victims into handing over tens of thousands of dollars (pounds) while posing as a millionaire film producer and a friend to the stars. Maskery admitted six offences of theft at Ipswich Crown Court in Suffolk, England this week (ends29SEP06). Prosecutor MATTHEW GOWEN said, "He lived in a fantasy world in which he gave himself the persona of a film producer and film financier."A vast number of people were completely taken in by him. Behind the veneer of Hollywood extravagance that he portrayed, he was a calculating fraudster."He prayed on people who thought they knew him and defrauded them out of cash."