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Malcolm Green |
Probe into estate agent’s schooldays
Court told how man accused of stealing thousands from client made up ‘grander’ history
AN estate agent who is standing trial accused of swindling a mentally-ill client out of shares and savings has been asked to prove he went to Highgate Boys School amid accusations that he made up details about his background.
Malcolm Green, 39, the boss at Greenfields in Heath Street, Hampstead, was told that he tried to appear “grander” than he actually was by adding ‘Ferdinand’ and ‘De Villiers’ to his name and claiming his father was a lord.
He said the claims were “balderdash” during three days of evidence in the witness box at Snaresbrook Crown Court.
“My father was not a lord, I’ve never said that my father was a lord,” he told the hearing.
Facing charges of conspiracy, theft and dishonest money transfer amounting to around £500,000, he is due to face a fourth day of questioning today (Thursday).
Barrister Philip Romans, who is representing Gem Shevket, a former employee at Mr Green’s Greenfields agency in Heath Street, Hampstead, who is also accused of being in on the scam, asked him on Tuesday: “Mr Green, you are not who you say you are, are you?”
He asked him a series of questions about Highgate School in Highgate Village which Mr Green said he attended from 1979 to 1984.
Mr Romans said: “What would you say if it turned out the school had no record of a Malcolm Alan Green? There is a Matthew Robert Green in 1980, but no Malcolm Alan Green.”
Mr Green replied: ”I was a pupil there.”
“Who was the headteacher?” asked Mr Romans.
“Mr Matthews,” Mr Green said.
“Are you sure it wasn’t Mr Giles?”
“No. It was Mr Matthews.”
“What was the head’s first name?”
“Giles.”
“Mr Green, you have learned to think on your feet, haven’t you?”
Mr Green later said he had a school photograph proving his attendance, but that it was at a property in Monaco.
“It’s been a long time,” he said. “Most of my friends have been and gone.”
The exchange was part of a series of questions centring on Mr Green’s identity which have been asked after it emerged that he has not been issued with a passport owing to queries over the authenticity of his birth certificate.
His evidence came as his defence began its case with him as its first witness.
Mr Romans asked several times why on some occasions Mr Green added ‘Ferdinand’ and ‘De Villiers’ to his name and accused him of not answering the question.
“Do you use it to make yourself sound grander?,” Mr Romans asked.
Mr Green said: “It is a family name. I use it in France for things like club membership.”
The property developer is accused of conning schizophrenic customer Marshall Davis into investing in bogus property deals, stealing his jewellery and rare stamp collection and transferring share certificates into his name. Mr Davis had visited Greenfields in April 2005 with a view to selling his house in Dunstan Road, Childs Hill.
Mr Green repeatedly said, “No, not at all” when accusations of wrong-doing were put to him.
“I would never have jeopardised my position,: Mr Green said. “I wouldn’t have been able to run a business in Hampstead for 10 years if I was dishonest. I’d be shot down in a year or before.”
He said that he was doing business in France at the time of the alleged scam and that Mr Shevket had been “left in charge” to deal with Mr Davis.
Mr Green was asked about the success of his business and whether the arrival of Foxtons, with its fleet of minis, had affected takings.
He said his business had been doing fine but added: “Foxtons had an impact on everybody when they came in. They took a share of the market.”
He denied being pestered for money by an ex-partner, tenants and Camden Council for business rates.
The court heard how an international arrest warrant was issued after he failed to turn up to an earlier hearing. Mr Green confirmed he was abroad, having used a French identity card to move around Europe.
He said: “I fell from a horse and broke my femur while in Cannes. I was in hospital for 17 days and then I went to Switzerland for rehabilitation. I had confusion in my head.
“The things in London were on my mind. I knew I had to get back to London. I was unhappy with my representation. I’d missed one of my hearings.”
Mr Shevket, 34, watched the proceedings from the dock. Both men deny all the charges.
The trial continues. |
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