New photo David Beckham’s former brother-in-law jailed after boiler room scam

Darren Flood, 39, (pictured outside Kingston Crown Court yesterday) has been jail for fleecing investors out of £800,000

David Beckham's former brother-in-law has been jailed for nearly three years after fleecing investors out of £800,000 in a boiler room scam.

Darren Flood, 39, was among seven  conmen jailed for a total of more than 20 years after using Flood's links to the former England player to gain trust of pensioners before tricking them into making 'worthless' investments.

The group cold-called unsuspecting members of the public, mainly the elderly, and persuaded them to invest thousands of pounds in practically worthless materials, falsely promising big returns.  

Flood - who was married to Victoria Beckham's sister Louise Adams from 2009 until 2014 - was a director of The Commodities Link, based in Canary Wharf, which focused on 'high net worth clients' and discussed potential targets including former Chelsea footballer Joe Cole's father.

They persuaded at least 24 people - including an 83-year-old woman who lost her life savings - to invest in rare earth elements, metals and oxides which are used in products such as mobile phones and computers, which police said may as well have been flour, such was their value.

They defrauded at least 24 victims out of almost £810,000 over the course of two years. 

But Surrey Police said the true scale of the crimes is believed to be much larger, with up to 30 more victims, who officers believe did not wish to come forward due to embarrassment at having been fooled.

Gennaro Fiorentino was the leader of the firm. Jonathan Docker and Darren Flood - who was married to Victoria Beckham's sister, Louise Adams - were second and third in command.  

To outsiders The Commodities Link looked to be a legitimate consultancy firm, complete with active social media accounts and a stylish marketing video promoting it as 'a truly global company.' 

But in reality the firm was run by a gang of what police described as 'criminals in suits'.

Detective Inspector Matt Durkin, who led the investigation, said: 'This is a criminal gang who, dressed in suits, used big, long complicated words and flashy brochures but, fundamentally, they are just criminals.'

Ex-wife Louise Adams, pictured together, described him as a 'wonderful father' in a character statement read at court yesterday

Deputy circuit judge Michael Carroll, sentencing, said the investment scheme Flood was involved in was 'fraudulent from the outset'.

He told the group: 'This must have been known to you once you became intimately involved in the running of the company or played a part in it.'

Flood, of Ware Road in Hertford, who owned almost a quarter of The Commodities Link (TCL), was part of the business alongside his half-brother Jonathan Docker and their cousin Gennaro Fiorentino.

Wearing a dark suit with a blue shirt and tie, Flood gave no visible reaction as he was sentenced.

Fiorentino, 38, from Hackney, played 'the leading role' in the company, Judge Carroll said, jailing him for five years.

Qualified accountant Mark Whitehead, from Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, had acted as the company's finance director.

The 60-year-old, who the court heard was previously cautioned for fraud, was handed a three-and-a-half-year sentence.

TCL's office manager Vikki King, 39, from Basildon, broke down in tears as she was jailed for 27 months.

The court heard the mother-of-four had previously been given a suspended sentence for benefit fraud.

All four defendants had denied conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation but were convicted by a jury in November last year.

Stephen Todd, who was brought in by Fiorentino to help run the company, and TCL's main salesman, Paul Muldoon, had pleaded guilty to the same charge, which is dated between April 2012 and August 2014.

Muldoon, 34, of Basildon in Essex, who was jailed in 2010 for fraud offences, fled the UK after being questioned about TCL's activities, and was extradited from Spain last year.

Judge Carroll, handing him a four-year sentence, said he had been an 'unscrupulous salesman preying on people who wanted to make investments for their future'.

Todd, 37, of Blackwall Way in Tower Hamlets, who is currently serving time in prison for a similarly-styled 'land banking' fraud, was sentenced to one year behind bars, to run consecutively with his current term.

Docker, 32, of High Road, Chigwell, Essex, was jailed for 30 months and disqualified from being a director of a company for three years.

Flood and Whitehead were disqualified for five years each.

Muldoon, Fiorentino and King were all made the subject of Serious Crime Prevention Orders.

There is no suggestion the Beckhams knew anything about the TCL fraud or about any use of the Beckham name.

During their trial, it was revealed that salesmen at the firm, most notably Paul Muldoon, had made much of Flood's link to the Beckham's to give the company a veneer of legitimacy.

Joanna Hardy, defending Flood, said the much talked about Beckham link could be put down to an 'accident of love' and the 40-year-old had never personally used his connection to Ms Adams as part of the fraud.

The conman (pictured outside court yesterday) encouraged victims to buy 'rare earth' substances, which are mainly used to make tech products, with the promise of big profits

Flood was married to Ms Adams, aged 41 years, between 2009 and 2014, and they have an eight-year-old daughter.

Ms Adams was reported to be 'in bits' when the marriage ended. She wrote a letter to the court describing Flood, from Hertfordshire, as a 'wonderful father.'

In the character statement read at court, south west London, Louise Adams said Flood undertakes many of the hands-on activities of his eight-year-old daughter's day-to-day life.

Joanna Hardy, defending Mr Flood, told the court: 'Mr Flood had the accident of love to blame for his link to the Beckham family.' 

Reading from the character statement, Mrs Hardy also said: 'I don't intend to read it all but your honour will note that she writes in great support of her former husband and father he is. 

'She indicates that the little girl spends her time living 50:50.

'She describes Mr Flood as a wonderful father. She describes him as undertaking many of the hand-on activities of the little girl's day-to-day life.

'She quite understandably as a mother indicates the concerns she has on the impact of Mr Flood's incarceration will have on her at that age.'

She added: 'Mr Flood's best personal mitigation is this, he is a father of a eight-year-old little girl.

Staff at Flood's company 'made great play on Flood David Beckham's brother-in-law' to win the trust of investors, Kingston Crown Court heard

'She spends half of the week with her mum and she spends half of her week with her dad.

'He take her to school, he takes her to her activities, he is by all accounts an active and doting father.'  

The court heard how Paul Muldoon became the main salesman at The Commodities Link, who 'sold' the worthless rare earth elements to unsuspecting clients by dazzling them with all-expenses-paid dinner dates in Canary Wharf. He pleaded guilty to fraud on March 9 2018.

Evidence from witnesses showed he had wined-and-dined victims of the fraud, including an 88-year-old woman who he showed the fictional Trading Floor at TCL and even took her to a solicitor. 

She was so thoroughly duped by the sham that she handed her bank details to TCL office manager Vikki King, aged 39 years, a previously convicted benefit fraud, so transctions could be processed more easily.

Led by Muldoon, the conmen at TCL took £19,243.28 from the woman before the entire operation was brought to light when she tried to transfer a further £100,000 over to them and her bank manager became concerned. 

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News Pictures David Beckham’s former brother-in-law jailed after boiler room scam

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