The “Christmas hamper conman” strikes again.
Andy Carroll and Sam Allardyce were among a number of West Ham employees defrauded of thousands of pounds, a court in London has heard.
Stephen Ackerman, who denies 19 counts of fraud, allegedly duped over £62,000 out of players such as Carroll, James Tomkins and Aaron Cresswell, Hammers’ staff and the current Sunderland manager back in December 2014.
The 48-year-old businessman is accused of failing to supply Christmas’ hampers he sold at the club’s training ground.
According to the prosecution’s solicitor Richard Milne:
“In the run up to Christmas this defendant, say the Crown, came up with a ruse, a fraud, to be perpetrated against or on West Ham football club at their training ground and against employees of West Ham football club.
“From the kit manager to the medical staff to the players, the assistant manager and the manager himself, Sam Allardyce.
“The fraud was very simple. He turns up at the training ground with all the trappings of a successful businessman – a Range Rover, a large silver watch, well dressed.
“And he turned up and defrauded them and took, in some cases cash, and in many cases their bank details cards.”
The court heard that Ackerman, using the alias of ‘Mark Kingston’, promised to deliver the items at a later date. However, the goods never arrived, and the accused instead allegedly used the bank details of Allardyce and Carroll to clean them out of thousands of pounds.
Allardyce, who’s the current favourite to become the next England manager, is due to give evidence in court this week.
