LONDON, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- A London con man known for palling around with celebrities and throwing parties was sentenced to almost 8 years in prison Wednesday for fraud.
Eddie Davenport was described as the "ringmaster and guiding mind" of a multimillion-pound fraud, The Guardian reported. He was convicted of claiming to have a business supplying commercial loans, conning owners seeking funding for projects out of fees.
Judge Peter Testar, who imposed a sentence of 7 years, 8 months, said Davenport cost his victims far more than the 4.5 million pounds (more than $7 million) he collected, since some of them sank their own money into projects because they believed they had the financing in line.
Davenport, who sometimes awarded himself a title, Lord Edward Davenport, is the son of a restaurant owner in the London neighborhood of Fulham. He became known in the 1980s for his Gatecrasher's Balls, parties that attracted upper-class teenagers.
In 1999, he acquired a house in Portland Place in London that had formerly belonged to the High Commissioner of Sierra Leone -- taking advantage of civil war there to buy it at a bargain. Scenes for the movie "The King's Speech" were shot there.
