Dragons' Den fraudster jailed
Peter Jones You need some front to face the likes of Peter Jones and Duncan Bannatyne on Dragons’ Den, but you need balls of steel to do what fraudster Jean-Claude Baumgartner did and rip off two of the mega-millionaires.
Baumgartner secured investment on the show from Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis for a stake in his “satnav for skiers” business, and the product was featured in a special of the show recorded for Sports Relief. However, by the time the programme aired, the company were making massive financial losses.
The entrepreneur used the £230k given to him by the magnates to fund his lavish lifestyle and also paid thousands of pounds to his partner.
The Sun quoted the judge in the case as saying, “You lied about the ownership of equipment which was pivotal to your pitch on TV. You created a false trail of documents to deceive well-intentioned people.”
Baumgartner was sentenced to almost three years in jail for the fraudulent activity, and although both Dragons were in court to give evidence it turned out not to be needed when he changed his plea to guilty at the last minute.