The lorry driver who 'joined plot to sell The Ritz'

And the lure of owning The Ritz hotel in London is said to have been the impetus for three alleged fraudsters, including an unemployed lorry driver from Yorkshire, who are accused of an audacious scam to sell the world-famous venue for a cut-price 250m.

At the start of their trial yesterday, Southwark Crown Court in London heard the defendants chose their marks well, finding victims who were interested in the high-stakes world of trophy properties before

sucking them in with false promises.

Anthony Lee, 49, from Broad Lane, Beal, Goole, is said to have pulled off the con which involved "one great big lie", convincing potential buyers he was a "close friend and associate" of the reclusive billionaire Barclay brothers, Sir David and Sir Frederick, the owners of the prestigious hotel in Piccadilly.

Lee and his business partner, retired construction company contracts manager Patrick Dolan, 68, pretended they had the ability to arrange the sale while solicitor Conn Farrell, 57, added "a veneer of legitimacy" to their scam.

They are accused of defrauding entrepreneur Terence Collins and Dutch financier Marcel Boerkhoorn by falsely representing that Dolan and Lee were in a position to procure the sale of The Ritz for 250m between January 1, 2006, and March 30, 2007.

Anuja Dhir QC, prosecuting, said: "The deal that sounded too good to be true was a complete fantasy."

She added: "The prosecution case is that these three defendants were each involved in a simple but well-targeted and ambitious scam.

"They promised their targets something that seemed to be too good to be true – the opportunity to buy The Ritz Hotel and Casino in Piccadilly for the bargain price of 250m.

"As the negotiations progressed, they sucked their victims in with more false promises and frustrated them with unnecessary requests until they managed to extract from them a payment of 1m."

The court was told the defendants had exploited the often secretive world of multi-million pound property deals, and Mr Collins had

used the codename "Project Notting Hill" in his negotiations.

Ms Dhir told the jury of nine women and three men the defendants "chose their marks well". "They found people – Terence Collins in particular – who were interested in the high-stakes world of dealing in trophy properties," she said.

"In that competitive world of secret multi-million pound deals, some people are prepared to take risks that might seem breathtaking to most of us.

"Millions of pounds can be made and lost on transactions for trophy properties like The Ritz."

She added: "What sets this transaction apart from most is that it was all based on one great big lie."

The defendants were never in a position to be able to sell The Ritz and it is those "direct lies" that make the trio guilty of conspiracy to defraud, Ms Dhir said.

The defendants found Mr Collins and his firm London Allied through Karen Maguire, a director of Property-Source.com which specialises in finding properties for private clients.

Lee told Ms Maguire he could set up a deal to buy The Ritz for 200m and would sell it on to a third party for 250m, offering to split the 50m profit with her if she could find a buyer, the court heard.

Ms Dhir said the supposed deal grossly undervalued The Ritz, which would have been worth between 450m and 600m at the time.

In December 2006, after telling Mr Collins other parties were making higher bids for The Ritz, Lee demanded a 1m non-refundable deposit

in exchange for 27 boxes of documents related to the sale.

Ms Dhir said Mr Collins had to take a "commercial gamble" by trusting Lee, whom he did not know particularly well, to deliver on his word before securing funds from Mr Boerkhoorn.

But the sale never happened and the money was never returned, the jury heard.

The court was told that Lee and Dolan will maintain the 1m payment related to a separate property deal that they had with Mr Collins, while Farrell will claim he was simply acting on the instructions of the two other defendants.

Dolan, of Philip Lane,Tottenham, north London, Farrell, of Cambridge Road, Aldershot, and Lee all deny conspiracy to defraud and are on bail.

The trial, which is expected to last four weeks, is due to continue today.

PUTTING ON THE RITZ

Since it opened its doors more than a century ago, The Ritz in the heart of London has maintained a reputation as one of the most desirable places to stay across the globe.

Swiss-born Csar Ritz was the man behind the venture and was dubbed "hotelier to kings and king of hoteliers" by Edward VII.

The Ritz opened on May 24, 1906, only a year after the start of construction.

More than a hundred years on, the hotel is now at the centre of a high-profile court case which would have appalled Mr Ritz.

Entrepreneur Terence Collins, who is alleged to have been duped out 1m in a bogus deal to buy The Ritz, justified the payment to his potential backers by referring to the reclusive nature of the Barclay brothers, the owners of the landmark hotel, and a high demand for prestigious properties.

In an email about the hotel to colleagues of Dutch financier Mr Boerkhoorn in December 2006, Mr Collins wrote: "The current owners, for their secretive reasons, have placed the sale in the hands of a third party."

He added that non-refundable deposits were now "the norm", prompted by a "buying frenzy" including high-profile purchases by the likes of the Sultan of Brunei.

The Barclays remained unaware, however, that they had been implicated in the alleged fraud.