A "compulsive fraudster" who falsely claimed to be a lord and a doctor has been jailed for four years after admitting 16 offences. Darren Anderson, from Gamston in Nottinghamshire, set up 13 fraudulent companies between 2022 and 2023, leaving businesses and individuals more than £200,000 out of pocket.
Anderson, 43, used names such as Lord Timothy Ahlbeck and the 18th Duke of Ahlbeck. He was also a director of five companies while banned and stole from properties he had rented.
His offences included making 106 unauthorised direct debit payments worth about £79,000 and failing to pay over £61,000 in rent for a hair salon. He also defaulted on payments to media organisations and left a rented cottage "uninhabitable" after being evicted, stealing furnishings.
Anderson, born Timothy Skelding, has been offending since the age of 19 and was previously convicted of fraud in 2011, 2015, and 2021. He was given a 15-year company director ban on two occasions but continued to offend.