Joseph Gibson, 35, has been sentenced to three years and two months in prison after pleading guilty to four counts of fraud. He swindled three women and one man out of a combined £68,000 between July 2020 and October 2021 by claiming he was a former Special Boat Service soldier, a multi-millionaire, and a cancer sufferer.
Gibson's elaborate lies and victims
Gibson, from Ruthin, Denbighshire, told his victims he had served in the Special Boat Service, owned luxury yachts and cars, and had a personal fortune of £400 million. He met two of his victims on Tinder and persuaded one of them that they were in a romantic relationship. He showed them photographs of grand properties and claimed he was considering purchasing them.
In text messages released after the case, Gibson boasted that he owned properties in Sandbanks, Bath, Dubai, Singapore and Mayfair, London, along with 21 rental properties. He wrote: "Mate I have everything I want I have amazing houses cars boats helicopters." Gibson also claimed to have made £1.1 million through financial trading, adding: "I am trading a 5 million account on my phone from a hospital bed."
Court proceedings and sentencing
Gibson had previously approached a judge at Bristol Crown Court seeking a delay to his sentencing, insisting he had £40,000 in savings set aside to reimburse his victims. On Thursday, he conceded he had failed to raise that amount and could only put forward £15,000, with a promise that further funds would follow. He told Recorder Jaron Crooknorth that he was capable of setting aside £5,000 each month towards compensation and appealed for a further nine-month deferral of his sentence. The judge rejected that plea and sentenced Gibson to three years and two months behind bars, also ordering proceedings to begin to claw back the money he had fraudulently obtained.
"Joseph Gibson, you are simply a fraudster," the judge told him. "It has taken years for you to admit that. Pity those who have had the misfortune to have you come into their lives, prey on their affections, steal their money, steal their goals and fracture their relationships."
Impact on victims
Gibson's first victim, a Devon-based businesswoman, lost more than £5,200 after falling for his lies. In August 2020, Gibson told the woman – whom he had met on Tinder – that he had cancer, even sending her a photograph of himself supposedly lying in a hospital bed. By the time his fraud had run its course, the woman had just 93p remaining in her bank account.
The judge described Gibson's second victim as "another Tinder trap", in which he modelled himself on Mr Grey from the Fifty Shades Of Grey film. Having discovered the woman had £10,000 in savings, Gibson persuaded her to transfer it to him for investment purposes, claiming he could turn it into £150,000. In 2021, the woman took out a £4,000 loan after Gibson insisted he urgently required funds for private cancer treatment. She was subsequently forced into an individual voluntary agreement to manage her mounting debts.
"She is broken and exhausted," the judge told Gibson. "She has lost all confidence and trust."
The third victim was a relative of the second, and took out loans to invest in Gibson's fraudulent investment schemes. In total, she lost more than £18,000. "She begged for her money back," the judge told Gibson.
Gibson's final victim was a retired superyacht captain, whom the accused informed he'd acquired a £7 million yacht following the sale of a weapons programme to the US government for £400 million. The man recounted how composing his victim personal statement reduced him to tears. "His dream of travelling around the world with his wife has gone," the judge said.
Gibson is due back for a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing in March, where authorities will seek to seize his assets to compensate his victims. Following the case, lead investigator Jenny Williams, from Avon and Somerset Police, commented: "Joseph Gibson is a confident and manipulative man who developed an extensive web of lies for his own personal gain. The impact of fraud on victims can often be profound and long-lasting, and those duped by Gibson have been left with significant debt, a loss of trust and the difficult task of rebuilding their lives."
