A CONVICTED conman accused of scamming two women out of £350k claimed he was an innocent employee caught in a web of fraudulent companies.

Lee Kantor, 42, of Chase Court Gardens, Southend, denies defrauding two women while working as a broker for a company offering investments in rare earth metals.

He is standing trial at Basildon Crown Court alongside his parents Terry and Lesley, and his friend Ryan Wilkinson, who are accused of laundering some of the cash.

Kantor told the court he started working for Hurst and Lang Trading Ltd as a senior broker in 2012 and headed up a team of 12 junior brokers based in offices in the City.

He had previously worked as a stockbroker and joined Hurst and Lang after replying to a job advert. He said: “I thought it was a sound, secure investment. We would purchase marketing lists, from marketing companies, of potential clients or investors. This opportunity seemed too good to let go. They had big opportunities.”

Kantor said the firm had between 15 and 20 investors, who bought metal “bundles” owned by the supplier, Denver Trading.

They included a 56-year-old bank executive’s wife who was initially contacted by one of the junior brokers. Once she had invested £17.5k with Denver Trading her account was passed to Kantor.

Kantor spoke to the woman a few weeks later, using the alias James Anderson. Jenni Dempster, defending, asked why he used a fake name.

He said: “The reason I used that name is my name is always spelt in a multitude of ways. From years and years ago I would have people calling me up to say they kept getting an email bounce-back so I used the professional name James Anderson.”

The court heard how Hurst and Lang’s supplier, Denver Trading, later went bust and its owners were jailed for fraud. Jurors were also told how Rizvan Mian, the boss of Imperial Escrow Ltd, which helped to launder the cash, was also sent to prison.

Kantor told the court he had met the bosses of Denver Trading, as well as Mian, but did not know them before joining the firm.

He said he was told Denver Trading closed its bank account because it was planning to move to Switzerland.

He said: “We had a meeting with Denver Trading and Rizvan and he said at the moment, because we are going to be moving to Switzerland, we are changing bank accounts. So it was business as usual.”

As a result, Kantor said he was told to get customers to make payments to his own bank account and withdraw the cash. He said would travel to London by train and hand over bundles of cash.

Miss Dempster asked: “You know how that looks?” Kantor replied: “Absolutely.”

One woman ultimately invested £320k with Kantor, while another paid £30,000.

Asked why after one £10,000 payment was made to his personal account he immediately transferred more than £5,000 to his mother’s account, Kantor said it was “legitimate commission”.

The court was also told of Kantor’s previous convictions for fraud, which include a £63,547 scam in which he sent a fake letter to a company invoicing them for services he had not carried out.

He also passed a fake cheque for £450 at B&Q and tried to present two fake cheques for £8,000 to Barclays Bank. He was found guilty of those offence after a trial in 2014.

When asked about the convictions he said: “It was a time in my life where I wasn’t working and I was just getting myself into misdemeanours. I admitted my guilt.”

Miss Dempster added: “To be fair, you were convicted after a trial.” Kantor replied: “Yes.”

Kantor denies two counts of fraud by false representation, relating to two victims. His parents Terry Kantor, 67, and Lesley Kantor 65, of Chase Court Gardens, Southend, and Ryan Wilkinson, 46 of The Croft, Great Wakering, all deny money laundering.

The trial continues.