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Edward Davenport (born 1966)

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Edward Davenport
Edward Davenport at 33 Portland Place, London W1
BornEdward Ormus Sharington Davenport
(1966-07-11) 11 July 1966 (age 58)
London, England, United Kingdom
NationalityBritish
OccupationBusinessman
Years active1982–present
Known forSerious fraud; founder of the Gatecrasher Balls
Websitewww.davenporttrust.com

Edward Ormus Sharington Davenport, also known as Fast Eddie and "Lord" Edward Davenport, (born 11 July 1966) is a convicted fraudster and property developer. He came to prominence as the organiser of the Gatecrasher Balls for wealthy teenagers and was convicted of tax offences in 1990 for understating his tax returns. After his conviction he started on a second career as a property developer, acquiring a substantial fortune but also attracting controversy for his business practices such as the way he acquired the former High Commission building of Sierra Leone in London, during the country's civil war. The building was subsequently used to host high profile celebrity events and sex parties. In 2005, he began to carry out advance-fee fraud schemes through a front company which defrauded dozens of individuals out of millions of pounds. He was arrested in 2009 and convicted in September 2011 along with several other defendants, receiving a seven-year jail sentence.

Early life

The son of a restaurateur from Fulham, Davenport was educated at Frensham Heights School, Surrey, and Mander Portman Woodward, a crammer. At the age of 15 he began selling clothes on Portobello Road before making a career organising parties, first at his home and later in nightclubs.

Gatecrasher Balls

In 1987 aged 19, Davenport co-founded Gatecrashers, a company that organized parties for teenagers at country houses such as Longleat and Weston Park. The balls were attended by up to 10,000 party-goers at any one time and at the height of their success were generating £1,000,000 a year. The idea behind the balls was to enable wealthy teenagers at single-sex boarding schools to meet the opposite sex while consuming copious amounts of alcohol. As one reveller put it, "I'm here to get drunk and get laid". The balls gained a reputation for debauchery or, as a newspaper headline put it, "Unbridled lust among upper-class Lolitas and public school Lotharios."

The balls ceased to be held after an HM Customs & Excise audit found that Davenport had substantially underpaid his Value Added Tax bill. Davenport was found to have understated his tax returns by £24,672 by falsely claiming that only £3.50 of the £14 entry fees for the Gatecrashers Balls was liable for VAT; the remaining £10.50 was supposedly for raffle tickets, a magazine subscription and postage. The prosecution described this as a "cheat" and Davenport admitted breaching VAT rules. Convicted for tax evasion, he was sentenced in November 1990 to nine months in jail. Asked by Tatler magazine how he coped with two weeks in prison, Davenport said in 2006: "Boring. There aren't many parties there." The original judgement was immediately appealed, and reduced to a suspended sentence for tax fraud.

Business

Following the success of the Gatecrasher Balls, Davenport turned his attention to the club industry in 1991. His ventures included joint-ownership with Piers Adam of the SW1 Club (now known as Pacha), and The Conservatory based in Derby.

After selling the clubs, he established a pawnbroking business with offices in Bruton Street, Mayfair. He also owned several pubs on The King's Road, Chelsea. In 1995, Davenport concentrated on establishing a business in property development and made investments into entrepreneurial businesses in the UK, some of which he served as a Non-Executive Director. After acquiring the manorial title of the village of Gifford in Shropshire, he began to call himself "Lord Edward," though he is not a member of the peerage.

33 Portland Place

In 1996, Davenport was introduced to Professor Cyril Foray, the former Foreign Minister and High Commissioner of Sierra Leone, during that country's civil war. Davenport entered into negotiations with the Government of Sierra Leone in order to refurbish their London embassy, built in 1775 by Robert Adam and valued at £5 million. Signing a contract with Foray and manoeuvring through a legal loophole after a payment of £50,000, Davenport eventually claimed 33 Portland Place as his private residence. The government of Sierra Leone took legal action against Davenport in London in 1999, but the case was eventually settled with no clear victor. The British Government offered to purchase a new building for the Sierra Leonean High Commission, leaving Davenport with the remainder of the short lease, which expires in 2020.

The property was regularly hired out for tango and pole-dancing lessons and parties, leading to many complaints from neighbours.Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page). In July 2006 Westminster City Council issued an enforcement order directing Davenport to cease using the property for "commercial and non-residential purposes" but this was essentially ignored and unauthorised use continued.

Davenport has also hired out the building as an exhibition space and filming location. All Visual Arts used it for the Vanitas: The Transience of Earthly Pleasures exhibition for the Frieze Art Fair in 2010 and singer Amy Winehouse used it to shoot the video for her hit song Rehab. In April 2010, the house doubled as Lionel Logue’s clinic in Oscar-winning film The King's Speech starring Colin Firth. Davenport was living there during part of the filming; one scene was filmed in his bedroom.

In July 2010, Westminster City Council brought a legal action against Davenport charging him with breaching a noise abatement order, following a party at 33 Portland Place. The case was dismissed by Judge Purdy at Westminster City Magistrate's Court, and Davenport was awarded the sum of £28,000 in costs. Later that month Westminster City Council brought an action at the High Court charging that Davenport's use of the property breached planning permission. The council reported that Davenport had filled a pool with Courvoisier cognac, which guests could row across. Davenport was found to have breached the 2006 enforcement notice and a High Court judge issued a permanent ban on the use of the house for non-residential purposes. In April 2011 Davenport lost an appeal against the injunction.

Patrick Cox

In 2008, Davenport purchased the fashion label of Patrick Cox for £2.5 million. Following the sale of his business, celebrity shoe designer Patrick Cox remained on the Board of Designers.

Gresham: conviction for fraud

In 2005, Davenport set up Gresham Ltd and ran a scheme between 2007 and 2009 that claimed to offer loans to small businesses during the credit crunch. It targeted ambitious construction projects with Gresham claiming in its marketing that it had been established in 1958 and had generous financial backing. After payment of a fee covering due diligence, arrangement and deposit, targets were told they would gain a loan from a multi-billion pound fund. But Davenport and partners Peter Riley and Borge Andersen kept the advanced fees. Investors included Elizabeth Emanuel, who lost savings after being promised a £1 million loan.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) arrested Davenport in December 2009, after gathering evidence that Gresham had promised to fund loans worth £500 million to the ten biggest targets. He was charged with conspiracy to obtain money by deception, conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and money laundering. Also accused were David McHugh, an accountant; David Horsfall, Davenport's solicitor; and Peter Riley, a director of Davenport's company. Davenport was also accused of carrying out a "price ramping" fraud on a £2.4 million property in central London to artificially increase its price at auction. Davenport subsequently closed Gresham and opened new company Cutting and Co. to carry on the advance-fee fraud. In June 2011, the SFO brought 11 test cases to Westminster Magistrates Court. Davenport asked for reporting restrictions to be placed on the case.

In September 2011, Davenport was convicted of advance-fee fraud at Southwark Crown Court. There were at least 51 victims of the scam, in the UK, Austria and India, from whom Gresham had acquired at least £4.5 million. Davenport was jailed for seven years and eight months. Sentencing, Judge Peter Testar said: "This was a professional, sophisticated fraud which had a grave impact on its victims, decent, honest people." A further sum of £8 million against undertakings provided by Cutting and Co were left to lie on the file, because Davenport had already been jailed, and banned from becoming a company director for 10 years after release from prison.

Reporting restrictions were lifted in October 2011 after the final defendant, David Horsfall, admitted fraud by false representation, after writing a letter that falsified how much money Gresham had. Confiscation proceedings are due to begin in May 2012.

References

  1. ^ Pierce, Andrew "Profile of Lord Edward Davenport", February 2009
  2. ^ "Self-styled lord known as 'Fast Eddie' jailed for $6.5 million fraud" (html). Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12/10/2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  3. ^ "Self-styled 'peer' Edward Davenport jailed for £4.5m con" (html). Daily Mirror. Retrieved 11/10/2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  4. ^ "'Lord' Edward Davenport jailed for fraud" (html). BBC News. 5 October 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
  5. ^ Simon Bowyers (5 October 2011). "Fast Eddie, friend to celebrities, swaps Portland Place mansion for prison cell". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
  6. "Property developer accused of cheating celebrity clients out of £12m". Daily Telegraph. 17 December 2009.
  7. ^ "Edward Davenport: The scandalous world of Britain's most sociable socialite - Profiles, People". The Independent. London. 10 September 2008. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  8. ^ Willis, Tim (8 July 2010). "The real fast Eddie Davenport". Evening Standard.
  9. ^ "Diamond geezer". London: The Independent. 5 May 1995. Retrieved 5 May 1995. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  10. Gerrard, Lesley (1996-01-27). "Tycoon of teen lust - Life & Style". London: The Independent. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  11. Pukas, Anna (6 October 2011). "The Lord of Fraud". Daily Express. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  12. "Ed's Party Over". Daily Mirror. 28 November 1990. p. 9.
  13. Pierce, Andrew (2009-02-13). "Profile of Lord Edward Davenport". London: Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  14. Richard Alleyne (21 October 2003). "Millionaire hails victory over £50,000 mansion". The Telegraph. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
  15. "Government statement on 33 Portland Place, London W1". 1998-07-20. Retrieved 2011-11-06.
  16. Reynolds, Mark (15 July 2010). "'Lord' Eddie and his pool of cocktails". Daily Express. p. 32.
  17. Gleandell, Colin (13 October 2010). "Frieze Art Fair: The biggest art party in town". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
  18. 110-room house doubled as Lionel Logue’s clinic in The King’s Speech London Evening Standard 21 January 2011
  19. 33 Portland Place, a Georgian property in Marylebone, was picked by the drama’s producers to shoot scenes involving speech therapist Lionel Logue helping King George VI beat his stammer.
  20. "Council is hedonistic party pooper". The New Zealand Herald. 18 July 2010. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  21. Swimming pool at Georgian mansion 'filled with alcohol for party-goers to row across' The Daily Telegraph 14 July 2010
  22. "'Porn disco' and sex party ban at historic mansion". Yorkshire Post. 30 July 2010.
  23. "'Lord' loses sex parties appeal". Evening Standard. 19 April 2011.
  24. Alexis Parr (2008-06-01). "Patrick Cox fears for his luxury shoe brand as he sells to orgies host 'Lord' Eddie Davenport". London: Dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  25. ^ Louise Boyle (5 October 2011). "Self-styled lord who threw sex parties in King's Speech mansion is jailed for eight years after ripping off rich and famous in £500m con". Daily Mail. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
  26. ^ Paul Cheston (5 October 2011). "Davenport conned stars out of life savings in £4m loans scam". Eveing Standard. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
  27. "Davenport to spend Christmas behind bars". Daily Mail. 17 December 2009.
  28. Wright, Stephen; Ellicott, Claire (4 December 2009). "Playboy 'lord' accused of conning stars out of GBP12m". Daily Mail.

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