Daniel Snelling: fraudulent entrepreneur not discouraged by adversity

Daniel Snelling 

(from decanter.com) 

Despite being arrested by the Metropolitan Police in March 2010 in connection with Nouveau World Wines Ltd and Finbow Wines Ltd then subsequently being charged with conspiracy to defraud and money laundering, Daniel Snelling was determined to continue his entrepreneurial career. Evidently fleecing investors of £4.5 million through Nouveau and Finbow wasn't sufficient, Snelling was keen to find other vehicles to thin the wallets of his clients. The vehicles have included eco-investments (Green Leaf Global), Biofuel (Infinity Source), Bulgarian real estate (Sandy Pines with Matthew Hart) and may well also include diamonds.  

Here is an account from someone who worked for Daniel Snelling at Infinity Source in late 2010:   

Hi Jim.

Apologies for bothering you but I've been recently reading your blog regarding Daniel Snelling with great interest as I actually worked for Daniel Snelling in late 2010 when he managed a company called Infinity Source that offered investments in a Biofuel called Jatropha.

I worked there under the false impression that it was a legitimate business. At the time Snelling used the alias Daniel Harris, which I stupidly believed was his real name. I worked for Infinity Source for just under two months but never got paid. I tried chasing the unpaid wages but didn't get anywhere as further investigations revealed that the director Timothy Flynn didn't even exist, as well as their 'head office' in Victoria Street turning out to be a virtual office, and that the company ceased trading in April 2011 after police were called to the office in Poplar Business Park after a fight apparently broke out between former Infinity Source staff and current staff/management over unpaid wages. Police ordered the closure of the office as a consequence. According to the manager of the office block, nobody was arrested, however police were apparently investigating the business for fraud. I was quite shocked as the layout of the business and the way it presented itself didn't seem or look anything like a scam and I was actually working there! What also confused me was that if it was a scam how did they ever expect to get away with it? Although Snelling's ignorance/arrogance later became apparent when reading the details of this court case.

It was only when I saw Snelling's picture in the Daily Mail that I found out his true identity. I gave the Insolvency Service details of Infinity Source but never heard anything back from them. From what I've read in the court case about Snelling's 'Biofuel investment plans' it doesn't sound like anyone actually knew about Infinity Source and/or Snelling's association with it.

I'm pleased with the verdict but sadly Snelling's associates will set up another scam firm and carry on conning people.

The guy that placed me at Infinity Source was a friend of Snelling's called Gavin Daniels (or at least that's what he said his name was). He claimed to run a recruitment company called Sales2sales which turned out to be non-existent as Sales2sales was struck off by Companies House after never filing accounts. 

   

Did any customers of Finbow Wines receive calls from Infinity Source. The chances are that they used the same lists of leads. Despite Infinity Source being a relatively new company their leads lists had scribble marks all over them like they had been called many times before.

I did have some subconscious doubts about the legitimacy of the business, however at the recruitment session Daniel Snelling held at the Hilton Hotel in Canada Water in October 2010, he was just as convincing conning myself and others into dodgy non-jobs, as he was conning investors out of money. 

As well as Daniel Snelling, his girlfriend Kelly Humphreys worked at the office doing admin and secretarial work for Snelling. I also remember Dina Snelling attending the office once but only as a visitor. I didn't know her name or relation to Snelling. Two other senior members of staff that worked there were a 'Mike Harris'* (who was apparently a relation of Daniel as well. One member of staff claimed Mike was his brother. Another claimed Mike was his cousin). Another senior guy used the name 'Joe Clark' although later enquiries with the office block manager claimed he also used the name Joe Prosser. From the photos in news articles, I never saw Simon Dempsey or Rebecca MacDonald at the offices.

Apologies if this is somewhat garbled and confusing but part of this was pre-written to put in the comments section of your blog, however for possible technical reasons, I can't seem to be able to post on your blog.

As I previously said, my main concern is that Daniel Snelling's associates will continue to con investors and gullible employers via other companies. 

Thank you for providing the details of one of the investigating officers in the Nouveau/ Finbow Wines case. I shall contact him in due course.

Regards,

********** 

* Mike Harris may well be Michael Snelling, a younger brother of Daniel. He was one of the sales team at Nouveau World Wines Ltd, where his name was Mike Lancaster, and at Finbow Wines ltd, where his name had changed to Mike James.

FSA advice on investments in carbon credits.