Bogus financial adviser conned granny to support gambling addiction

Bogus financial adviser conned granny out of £150k pension to pay for gambling addiction
BY Ben Archibald

A BOGUS financial adviser conned a grandmother out of her £150,000 retirement pot to fund his gambling addiction.

Ryan Burnside told Margaret Gallivan that he was investing her life savings overseas - but was spending it at casinos.

Burnside, 35, lied about having large plots of land, fancy cars, and even invented a fictitious wife and children to entice Margaret, 62, to trust him.

Stirling Sheriff Court heard Burnside was fired as a financial adviser at investment firm Albannach in November 2008 for "financial irregularities" and the Financial Services Authority were informed.

Margaret, from Bridge of Allan, near Stirling, had received a six-figure divorce settlement after the sale of her marital home.

She kept Burnside on as her financial adviser after Albannach told her he had been dismissed.

Burnside lied by telling her the FSA were allowing him to work again.

Burnside, of Livingston, Midlothian, pretended the mental health worker's investments were not doing well or were being invested in a Lithuanian bank.

He told police he spent her money in casinos and had a gambling problem.

Fiona Caldwell, prosecuting, said Margaret had been forced to take in a lodger, adding: "The victim expected to be comfortable in her retirement. She no longer has any savings."

Burnside, of Livingston, West Lothian, admitted pretending to be an independent financial adviser and fraudulently obtaining £150,000 from his victim.

Sheriff William Gilchrist deferred sentence for reports.