Ritz fraud accused blew £435,000 on 'good time'

Patrick Dolan, 68, said he received 644,000 euros, then worth about 435,000, from the alleged victims and spent 40,000 euros a day on betting on horse races. He also bought a Mercedes, paid off his 46,000 euro mortgage, and spent the rest on himself.

"I had a good time," he told the jury at Southwark Crown Court in London.

Speaking in his strong Irish accent, Dolan went on: "I paid off the little things, credit cards and things. I didn't owe much money to anyone.

"I spent the rest on myself.

"Forty thousand a day on races. I had a good time. I know everything about horses. I know them back to front."

Dolan and Anthony Lee, 49, are accused of targeting property dealer Terence Collins because of his interest in the high stakes world of trophy properties.

Solicitor Conn Farrell, 57, added credibility to the deal.

The trio chose their mark well, sucking him in with false promises until Mr Collins, funded by Dutch financier MarcusBoerkhoorn, handed over a 1m deposit, the court was told.

But Dolan said the 1m payment had nothing to do with the Ritz Hotel and related to a completely separate property deal in St Neots, Cambridgeshire.

Dolan, of Philip Lane, Tottenham, north London; Lee, of Broad Lane, Beal, Goole, East Yorkshire; and Farrell, of Cambridge Road, Aldershot, Hampshire, are on bail and all deny conspiracy to defraud between January 1, 2006, and March 30, 2007.

Under cross-examination by Anuja Dhir QC, for the prosecution, Dolan said he lost 185,000 euros through gambling, money which he took out in cash instalments of up to 47,500 euros at a time.

He added that he spent 42,000 on the Mercedes and thought he had got a "bargain". "That car was well worth 70,000," he said.

Dolan, who said he was unemployed and mainly relied upon his wife for money at the time, also told the jury of nine women and three men that he was being framed by wealthy businessmen. "I was set up by rich people," he said. "The big shots in The Ritz on that deal was using me as a scapegoat.

"I'm only an ordinary man but these rich people were kicking me round like a football.

"I better stop because I'm so mad about it."

Dolan denied he was "heavily involved" in the scam to sell the Ritz to make money.

The trial continues.