West Ham Stars Lose £60k In Xmas Hamper Scam
Potential England boss Sam Allardyce is among those allegedly conned by a "smart" salesman who visited the training ground.
Wednesday 20 July 2016 16:57, UK
Former West Ham captain Kevin Nolan unwittingly became a middle man in a Christmas hamper con which saw players and staff lose more than £60,000.
Nolan told Snaresbrook Crown Court he was given the details of a hamper salesman going by the name of Mark Kingston by a nightclub manager friend.
He passed them on to player liaison officer Tim De'Ath and 'Kingston' subsequently appeared at the Premier League club's training ground on 12 December 2014.
While there he allegedly sold Christmas hampers to then manager Sam Allardyce and 12 former and current players which they never received.
The players included England international Andy Carroll and former defender Joey O'Brien.
Defendant Stephen Ackerman denies 18 fraud charges, with the proceeds amounting to roughly £61,560.
The 48-year-old, of Loughton, Essex, claims he was wrongly picked out by Mr De'Ath in an identity parade and is not the man purported to be Mark Kingston.
Nolan, who was West Ham captain at the time, said he was given Kingston's details by Scott Cummings, who runs the Club 195 bar in Epping.
He said: "Basically, it was just that Mark sold luxury hampers and he would like to come into the training ground.
"That's something which is quite common in our place, round Christmas time we have a lot of people come in."
Nolan, 34, said he paid £920 for two Harrods hampers and 25 bottles of champagne that were not delivered.
The court heard defender O'Brien paid £1,200 on a credit card for two hampers and 20 bottles of Laurent Perrier rose champagne.
He said he noticed that two additional payments totalling £780 had left his account when he checked his statement several days later.
He said: "I did not know anything about those on my bank statement until I checked.
"I knew they were not made by me so I contacted the bank to cancel the card."
Mr Allardyce, who is in talks with the Football Association about becoming England's next manager, previously told jurors he lost £13,270 in the alleged scam.
He described the man who conned him as "extremely smart" and a "good salesman".
The trial continues.