A POOLE man has been jailed for nine years for his part in defrauding a Christian philanthropist of £12 million.

Alan Hunt, 65, of The Avenue, was one of three men convicted at Norwich Crown Court this week and was sentenced yesterday (FRI1).

Hunt was also found guilty of carrying out a similar fraud worth 10 million Euros on a German church five year ago, a year before Norwich businessman Graham Dacre was targeted.

Partner-in-crime Arthur Ford-Batey was handed a term of 11 years.

Ford-Batey, 62, of Carlisle, was cleared of defrauding the Dortmund church and money laundering.

During the trial the court heard that the trio promised the multi-millionaire huge returns from high-yield investment funds.

They tricked their victims by creating an “air of respectability” and playing on their Christian charity, prosecutors said.

The cash invested then disappeared through offshore bank accounts.