AN internet fraudster who admitted fleecing 14 New Zealanders out of nearly £90,000 from his Dorset home has been jailed for three-and-a-half years.

Ronald Bellamy, 60, ran Euro Consultants International Ltd and claimed he had access to funds from investors who would provide finance for projects in New Zealand.

His victims paid deposits for loans that they were never going to receive.

The offences happened between September 2000 and July 2001 while Bellamy lived in a rented property with his wife in Compton Valence.

DC Paul Sullivan, of Dorset Police's Fraud Unit, told the Daily Echo: "Some of his victims were well-off and some were struggling. He's a sophisticated internet fraudster who has cruelly ripped off innocent people."

Bellamy was arrested in June 2002 by Dorset Police, who compiled a file about his crimes and sent them to the Serious Fraud Office in New Zealand. In January this year he was extradited to New Zealand and charged with 20 offences of theft by misappropriating funds, 26 of using a document to commit fraud and six of forging a document.

But in a deal struck with the SFO, Bellamy pleaded guilty at Auckland District Court to 14 of the charges relating to 14 victims.

The conman offered loans at a one per cent deposit up to $10,000 dollars, which he claimed was refundable less $50 dollars if the loan was turned down.

Three businessmen living and working in New Zealand were appointed by Bellamy as agents to recruit clients. They were also unaware that the loans Bellamy was offering were bogus.

Officers from the SFO were told that advance fees were paid by the victims straight to Bellamy and the agents negotiated their own fee direct with clients.

Bellamy claimed he had funds from Dutch investors, an American Express account containing $20 million and funds from two companies.

He forged all the documents on his laptop and there was never any money, said SFO prosecutor Anita Killeen.

Bellamy's cover was blown when one of the men acting as his agent in New Zealand contacted the Dorset Police fraud squad.

One of his victims told officers: "Ron Bellamy, in running this scam, has demonstrated a callous disregard for his victims, not only financially but emotionally and psychology. I honestly and sincerely believed the man was genuine and, in 40 years of business, he is not the first to try but he was the first to succeed in taking me down. Very hard to take at 65 years of age."

Bellamy also has a previous conviction for deception after he conned the Welsh Development Agency out of £30,000.