Gambling-Addicted Designer Jailed for 6 Years

A gambling-addicted fashion designer is accused of duping investors with a fake tickets scam to the Oscars with the guarantee of meeting actress Julia Roberts.

Alvin Loy, 50, fooled his victims into investing £263,599 in his business venture.  But instead of actually investing the money, he gambled away much of the money at casinos. 

The deception included feigning a phone call to John Galliano, and on another showed a naked photograph of fashion designer and director Tom Ford, falsely claiming they were in a relationship.

On Tuesday a jury, Loy was convicted on all counts after a seven-day trial.

But Loy is Missing In Action.

An international arrest warrant is currently out for the disgraced businessman, with the judge telling jurors he was believed to be in Malaysia.

Sentencing, Judge Richard Bond said: "The truth is Alvin Loy was a sophisticated and very clever fraudster who deployed the main weapon of a fraudster's armoury - relying on the decency of his victims while he fed them lie after lie."

- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com