A fraudster posed as a successful businessman with £4million in investments to con a female millionaire he met on Tinder into handing him £141,000, a court heard.
Richard Dexter, 37, promised victim Amrita Sebastian that he was on the verge of a 'big windfall' and 'significant sums' after telling her he had acquired the patents to valuable biopharmaceutical technology.
He said major multi-nationals - including US medical firm 3M - were interested in signing a multi-million pound deal with him.
On the back of his lies, executive Ms Sebastian handed over a series of payments totalling £141,000 believing they were investments, prosecutors said.
But Dexter pocketed the cash for himself and came up with a series of increasingly bizarre excuses for why he couldn't pay her back.
It was then that Ms Sebastian called the police, heard Portsmouth Crown Court.
Richard Dexter (pictured above), 37, promised victim Amrita Sebastian that he was on the verge of a 'big windfall' and 'significant sums' after telling her he had acquired the patents to valuable biopharmaceutical technology
When officers raided Dexter's Hampshire home in April 2018 they found a document which claimed he had more than £4million invested with the financial services company Hargreaves Lansdown.
But this was a 'total fabrication', the court was told, with the account actually belonging to a a friend of his whose final balance was actually 37p.
Dexter is then accused of forging patent documents to try to 'wheedle out' of his alleged fraud, according to prosecutors.
Robert Bryan, prosecuting, told the jury that Ms Sebastian met Mr Dexter on Tinder in 2015. He claimed he was a 'successful businessman' selling biopharma software.
He persuaded Ms Sebastian, who lives in Dubai but travels to the UK twice a year, that he needed capital to start production of a piece of scientific equipment.
At first she invested £40,000 then £68,000 two months later, having been assured that he could cover any losses she might make.
Mr Bryan said: 'At the centre of his fraud were patents and a patent catalogue he claimed to be buying.
'Thereafter having said he had acquired these patents he said that well-known companies such as Pall Corp and 3M were interested in the patents and license deals which would bring in significant sums.
