There, Ames took deposits for 1,900 properties but only 195 were ever built.
Investors were told that for a £1,000 reservation fee and a 30pc deposit – which they could borrow – they could secure themselves one of the luxury homes. Only 15pc went towards construction, with the rest going to sales commissions and other fees.
At a proposed development in St Lucia, Harlequin touted Bali-style beach villas for £550,000.
Harlequin’s promotional material invited potential investors to “have a knock about” at a tennis academy created by Australian star Pat Cash, “play football with the legends” at a football school run by Liverpool FC, or tee off on golf courses designed by South African champion Gary Player.
Former Premier League footballer Andy Townsend also appeared on Harlequin’s website and television property expert Phil Spencer appeared in a promotional video saying he had invested in the scheme
Like the scheme’s victims, the celebrities and the football club had been duped by Ames.
Harlequin was started in 2005 by Ames, a twice-bankrupt from Essex who had previously set up failed garden furniture and window businesses.
A charismatic salesman, he installed his wife and two sons in directorships at his new company and used an army of salesmen and other middlemen to flog the holiday properties to his victims.
One of his sons was at one stage paid £10,000 a month. Meanwhile, Ames and his wife, Carol, 70, bought themselves a mansion reportedly now worth £2m.
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