Brit family conned out of £80k by American paedophile who promised them ‘dream Disney World home’ in Florida
Hayley and Simon Kirby re-mortgaged their Southampton house and duped into giving the cash to Roy Phillips
A BRITISH family conned out of £80,000 by an American paedophile who promised them their "dream home" near Disney World in Florida.
Hayley and Simon Kirby re-mortgaged their Southampton house and duped into giving the cash to Roy Phillips, 48, to secure the villa.
But the "reputable" businessman was also paying people in the Philippines to sexually abuse children while he watched on Skype.
NHS support worker Hayley, 35, and finance manager Simon, 36, only found out about his sick crimes when they were sent a news story about his arrest.
The couple, who have four children, spent another £14,000 trying to get their £66,000 back were forced to give up when lawyers discovered he was penniless.
Phillips had transferred £5.38million ($7million) to "untraceable" off shore accounts before he was jailed for 60 years.
Hayley said: "It has been a horrible emotional rollercoaster. The stress of it has been unreal.
"The hardest thing was that we had stayed in the property we were supposed to buy. Our children believed it would be our American home."
The Kirbys, from Southampton, had their hearts set on buying a dream £250,000 five-bed villa in Davenport, Orlando, complete with a pool and a games room.
They were planning on enjoying years of "magical" trips to Florida with Noah, 11, Isla, nine, Ciara, eight, and seven-year-old Isabella.
Hayley, says the family "adored" Florida having holidayed there three times and had always dreamed of being able to own a home near "the happiest place in the world".
But when they failed to qualify for a US mortgage, the Kirbys began to look into investing in the high-risk hedge fund investment process.
The family were made aware of "reputable" hedge fund businessman Phillips, managed of Global Select advisors, by their US-based estate agent.
They began the process of investing with the company by remortgaging the remaining £113,000 loan on their £500,000 family home in Shirrell Heath, Hampshire.
Hayley said their estate agent told the couple how Phillips had a "track record" of helping people in a similar position to their own.
She said: "We thought that was a safe referral and at that point we had no reason to be concerned. There were no alarm bells at all."
Before agreeing on any deal, Hayley and Simon conducted their own research into Phillips' hedge fund, and even drove past his offices whilst on a trip to the States.
She said: "We looked his company up and we had no reason not to believe him. It seemed completely legitimate.
"He was really nice but he was clearly very clever and well practised.
"He was so convincing. He told us we wouldn't lose our original investment so we had no reason to be concerned."
According to legal documents, the Kirby's agreed to invest £66,000 ($100,000) in his company, in return for him buying the property, in September 2015.
He or his company would then "hold" the home and he "guaranteed that, under no circumstances, would the principal amount depreciate in value".
It would be invested in "market securities" and the "guaranteed monthly appreciation" of the Kirby's investment would be used to make their monthly payments towards the house.
They were due to do the deal in January 2016, but Phillips made believable excuses over why he couldn't complete until September 2016, when he was arrested.
FBI agents swooped on his Orlando home over allegations he paid money to direct adults to abuse kids between the ages of three and 12 in the Philippines via webcam.
The Department of Justice said during a one-year period, Phillips wire transferred a total of £13,000 ($16,700) to one of the abusers.
Phillips pleaded guilty to sexually exploiting children in February 2017 and sentenced to 60 years in prison.
The Kirby's seller inevitably pulled out when they failed to provide the money required to follow through with the deal.
They opened legal proceedings to sue Phillips and get their cash back but were left "devastated" when lawyers found it was almost certainly impossible.
Investigators found Phillips had diverted "significant funds" to offshore accounts, according to US court documents from the Kirby's lawsuit.
Hayley, who has been off work for four months due to the stress caused by the ordeal, said: "It put a massive strain on our family. We just felt really stupid.
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"It has been really traumatic. You just couldn't make it up. It has been a complete nightmare."
She added: "We had fallen in love with the place. It was awful having to explain to the children that a nasty man had taken our money.
"At least we have come through it all as a strong family."
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