A conman who had already left his mark in the property sector is once again behind bars.

David Kelso – also known as David Watmuff – has been jailed for four years and ten months after stealing £18,000 from his girlfriend, and lying on his CV in applying for jobs at two separate estate agents.

Kelso, 63, duped the woman out of her money, resulting in her having to shut her business. She had believed that they were in a “close and loving” relationship between 2015 and 2016.

He was found guilty of theft after a six-day trial at Newcastle.

Kelso had also pleaded guilty to two matters of fraud and to producing fake invoices.

A role had been created for him at Bruton Knowles, a national property consultancy with a number of local outlets.

On his CV he falsely claimed he had a upper-second class degree from Newcastle University in agricultural land and estate management, a masters in science from Bristol University as well as a PhD in finance from Bristol.

Vince Ward, prosecuting, said: “He was invited for an interview, he did not get the job, but at the end of that interview he pitched an idea to Bruton Knowles and they were impressed by it.

“His idea was to secure a contract between artisan food suppliers and retail outlets.

“They thought he would be a suitable person to employ and that was because of his CV.

“He was to do the deals, he was to write the invoices, but in fact he did not do any deals at all. He created £80,000 worth of invoices giving an impression that he was doing these deals but no money changed hands.”

During this time, Kelso was claiming a salary of £32,021 a year as well as expenses and even had an assistant.

Kelso resigned from the company and then applied for a job in March last year with land surveyors and estate agents GCS, which has offices across North Yorkshire and County Durham.

He again lied on his CV, although this time omitting the supposed PhD.

The court heard Kelso was taking home a salary of £40,000 plus commission but it was later revealed he had failed to secure any deals.

Just a few weeks into his employment, Kelso’s ex-partner got in touch with GCS saying he was known to her as David Watmuff and owed her money.

With an internet search, the fraudulent past of Kelso was revealed and he was sacked from the company in June.

During the subsequent investigation, it was revealed the reference Kelso had provided had the same phone number he had submitted as his own on his application.

Mr Ward added: “Two of these offences had been committed on bail and one of these involving thefts was committed over a sustained period of time, over six or seven weeks.

“The companies suffered financial loss as well as reputational loss.”

Serial fraudster Kelso was jailed in 2012 for plundering his elderly mother’s bank account days after the death of her husband. That same year, he was given another jail sentence after setting up a residential property management firm in Bristol.

At the time Kelso was serving a prison sentence – for a con at Prince Charles’s Poundbury development – and had been banned from being a company director.

His property company, Zidama, was wound up in July 2007, owing some £413,000.

He went on to be jailed in 2010 for frauds relating to an estate in Oxfordshire.

Usually calling himself David Watmuff, he appears to enjoy dealing with agents, once turning up at a Bath lettings agent purporting to be looking for property on behalf of Harvey Nichols. The store had never heard of him.

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/walter-mitty-conman-who-fleeced-12542638