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.

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.