‘His character seemed to be in order'

Those were the words of Jonathon McCrae just weeks before his arrest.

David Clayton and his wife, Petrona, held McCrae in high regard after being introduced to him through friends.

When they heard about a spread betting system that they believed could make them rich, they saw no reason to doubt McCrae.

“His credibility was vouched for, his character seemed to be in order, and his credentials seemed to be legitimate,” said Mr Clayton.

“As far as we were concerned, he was a very talented software programmer who had built this software in his professional life for banks and now he was using his knowledge independently for his family and friends.”

In September, 2006, the Claytons invested £21,000 in what was later nicknamed “The Fund”.

Mr Clayton had never come face to face with McCrae, but he believed he was investing in an exclusive members’ club.

Despite there being no formal contracts or official documents, the Claytons felt McCrae was “doing them a favour”.

The couple, who live in Cheshire, had close friends living in Westhoughton.

“We forgot it was happening and just let Jonathon do his thing. We thought that maybe five years down the line there was going to be quite a lot of money. You can’t help but make plans.” Unlike McCrae’s other victims, the Claytons did not splash out on luxury items based on the money they thought was in the SSIG fund.

Even while organising their wedding, the couple decided they had enough money to cover the costs — a decision Mr Clayton has regretted ever since.

“We were planning to take out about £5,000 or £6,000 so we contacted him and he said “no problem”.

“What would have happened if we had gone through with it? Would he have simply found the money, or would it have alerted to us there was a problem?”

The Claytons began to suspect foul play when McCrae said he was being chased by the taxman and that the Swiss authorities had frozen his account.

But McCrae reassured Mr Clayton they would be “set up for life” and “laugh about it over a pint”.

Four weeks later he was arrested.

“In some respects it came like a bolt out of the blue but it wasn’t a huge surprise,” said Mr Clayton.

“Jon McCrae has enjoyed a number of years of good living on the back of our investment, but where he’s going for the next few years he’ll be paying a high price himself.

“It doesn’t get us our money back, but at least he won’t be eating out at our expense any more.”