A CONMAN who stole more than £400,000 from his friends then fled to Switzerland has been jailed.

Jonathon McCrae, aged 41, from Westhoughton, was sentenced to three years and four months behind bars yesterday.

Bolton Crown Court heard he pocketed a total of £421,772 between July 2002 and November 2007 and spent most of it on a lavish lifestyle.

McCrae told two of his friends, Steven Bennett and Ritchie Brown, he had devised a spread betting scheme, known as the Sandyway Spread Investment Group (SSIG), which could produce returns of 800 per cent.

Ian Lee, prosecuting, told the court: “Both Bennett and Brown trusted McCrae implicitly. When they were invited to join with McCrae in this scheme, this trust was key to persuading them to invest."

The victims introduced others to the SSIG and the scheme soon expanded.

The court heard members signed a ‘Constitution and Rules’ agreement and received what later turned out to be forged statements showing their growth.

McCrae also produced newsletters to portray the scheme as a “solid and lucrative proposition”, Mr Lee told the court.

But when investors asked for their stake of the money, McCrae lied about why he could not provide it.

He was, the court heard, siphoning cash for his personal gain, including a luxury villa in Cyprus.

In June 2005 he circulated a letter from CMC Spread Bet plc showing an equity valued at more than £2million.

Mr Lee said this was a fake and the true value was around £37.

In 2007, McCrae moved to Switzerland with his wife Angela and ten-year-old daughter to escape debts of around £96,000.

Sentencing, Judge Angela Nield told McCrae: “This was a significant breach of trust.

“To see of man of previous good character and intelligence before this court is in itself a tragedy. To see in the public gallery the number of people who suffered as a result of your criminal activity is more so a tragedy.”

At an earlier hearing, McCrae pleaded guilty to eight counts of theft and six counts of false accounting.

He asked for a further four offences to be taken into consideration.

Det Con Rick Armstrong, of Bolton CID, said: “McCrae is without a doubt one of the most selfish individuals I have ever come across.

“He wickedly abused the trust of his close friends and their families, who invested life savings based on a tissue of lies and deceit.

“While he has rightly been sentenced, many of his victims will not feel justice has been done until they get their money back.

“Sadly that could take many years and in some cases may not happen at all.”