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| Jason Shifrin: £44K Bar Mitzvah |
A notorious fraudster, who’s cynical Rolex and jewellery con funded his son’s £44,000 Bar Mitzvah celebration, has received an additional 18 months behind bars.
High-living salesman Jason Shifrin, 49, preyed on two investors, swindling £93,560 from one businessman and the £5,930 life savings from an unemployed man.
Harrow Crown Court heard £18,000 was also splashed on a Mini Cooper; £6,000 on a family holiday and the remainder deposited in the savings account of his wife Nicole Shifrin, 48.
The couple, of Stanborough Avenue, Borehamwood were both arrested and charged, but money laundering counts against Nicole were dropped and they exchanged a kiss as she left the dock a free woman.
Jason, who is currently serving three years and ten months at HMP Wormwood Scrubs for a similar scam involving a £40,0000 gold investment, had this sentence added to that term.
He pleaded guilty to defrauding Reza Zoje, 56, of £93,560 between March 1 and October 4, 2015 by falsely representing it would be invested in watches for profit.
He also pleaded guilty to defrauding the second man of £5,930 between February 1 and October 31, 2017 by falsely representing it would be invested in a Rolex, four necklaces, two rings and a bracelet for profit.
Nicole was charged with laundering the money from both cons through her bank account, but after pleading not guilty the prosecution offered no evidence.
“That’s a decision for the Crown Prosecution Service, but for me she is extraordinarily lucky on this occasion,” announced Judge Lana Wood.
Jason is the author of ‘Money, Money, Money’ in which he boasts of his goal to be as wealthy as his idol Alan Sugar, whose gold Rolls Royce he used to wash.
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| "Extraordinarily Lucky": Nicole Shifrin |
He told the victims he specialised in selling expensive jewellery and watches to celebrities and footballers.
Prosecutor Ms Leena Lakhani said: “The defendant persuaded these two individuals into investing into deals that didn’t exist and transfer money into his wife’s bank account with the proceeds spent on a luxury lifestyle.
“He chased these two men to invest in these deals on the agreement the money would be returned, plus profit.”
Jason duped the investors into believing his real name was ’Shipman’, even producing a passport in that name to prove his identity.
“The money was not returned to the first victim within ten days as agreed and he used many excuses for the delay, even claiming he may have cancer,” added the prosecutor.
Eventually the first victim found an internet article on Shifrin, revealing his true identity, and won a civil case against him, but no money was ever recovered.
By the time the second victim asked for his money back Shifrin told him he was on the verge of bankruptcy and the cash was in his wife’s frozen bank account.
That man says “my life savings have been taken” and the first investor had to scrap a family trip to Australia and plans to buy his daughter a flat.
Nicole is still serving a two-year community order and 300 hours community service for laundering the profits of the gold scam.
“He has realised he has brought his wife’s good name into disrepute,” said Mr. Philip Sutton, defending. “She is an enabler as opposed to an instigator.”
Their son, now aged seventeen years-old has recently dropped out of school. “He realises the effect his behaviour has had on his wife and his son.”
The flamboyant salesman is now bringing his personality to smooth relationships between staff and prisoners at Wormwood Scrubs, the court heard.
“It is encouraging to see he is using his undoubted charisma and communication skills for good,” said the judge, who ironically spotted Shifrin when she visited the prison last week.
“I have seen with my own eyes what has been written about you and somehow out of this you are going to have to recover your self-respect.”
“You persuaded both these men to invest in deals that were fictitious and used that money to fund your family’s luxury lifestyle.”
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