Trio accused of Ritz sale scam 'are crooks'

Money man Marcel Boerkhoorn, who was duped out of 1m in the alleged con, turned on the trio at the end of his evidence.

The Dutch financier asked the judge at Southwark Crown Court in central London: "What's the reason it takes such a long time to get all these crooks into the jail?"

Anthony Lee, 49, and Patrick Dolan, 68, are accused of targeting middle-man Terence Collins because of his interest in the high stakes world of trophy properties and sucking him in with false promises that the prestigious hotel in London's Piccadilly was on sale for 250m. Solicitor Conn Farrell, 57, added credibility to the deal, the court was told.

But the trio told Mr Collins he needed to hand over a 1m deposit so he turned to investor and entrepreneur Mr Boerkhoorn for the funds. Soon afterwards it emerged that the deal was a "complete fantasy", the court was told.

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

Earlier, the court was told Mr Collins described the 1m payment, which Mr Boerkhoorn understood was a deposit for the Ritz, as an introductory fee for a separate deal over the Flaxby golf course near Harrogate, North Yorkshire, for "accounting reasons". "Maybe he's just a crook like the two guys sitting there," Mr Boerkhoorn said, insisting he had never heard of the Flaxby deal.

Lee and Dolan will say that the 1m payment related to a separate deal over the Flaxby golf course, the jury of nine women and three men was told. And Farrell will say he was only acting on the instructions of Lee and Dolan.

The hearing continues.