Is £3.25m fraudster in Spanish hideaway?

2:17pm Thursday 22nd May 2008

A MISSING playboy who literally lived life in the fast lane on the back of a £3.25m fraud has been named as one of Britain's most wanted men.

Fun-loving millionaire Ray Nevitt, who used to live in a £600,000 detached house in Whitefield, funded a jet-setting champagne lifestyle and indulged in his passion for fast cars.

The 44-year-old tycoon - who rubbed shoulders with celebrities including Damon Hill, Vic Reeves and Ruby Wax - used to run Manchester-based computer company group Ravelle Ltd but fled the UK after it collapsed with debts of £6.4m.

Inquiries revealed married Nevitt, who loved gambling at casinos in Monte Carlo and Las Vegas, bought a fleet of cars including a £100,000 Ferrarri F355, registration number L1000NEY, which he wrote off at 150mph during the Gumball Rally.

He was first convicted of defrauding the taxpayer in 2006, but disappeared after being bailed by a judge following pleas from his lawyers.

International arrest warrants were issued for the industrialist who left behind two directors to face the music over the firm's demise.

Fraud squad police believe he is in the luxury Spanish resorts of Puerto Banus or Marbella.

On Tuesday, Nevitt was convicted in his absence at Manchester Crown Court of five counts of fraudulent trading worth £3.25m, following an 11-week trial.

He was given a 45-month prison sentence and was also disqualified for 10 years from being a company director.

Ravelle Ltd's finance director Jeremy Greene (48), from Sale, was convicted of three counts of fraudulent trading and was sentenced to 21 months imprisonment, suspended for two years. Kay Boardman (49), also a director, of Manchester, was convicted of one count of fraudulent trading and was sentenced to eight months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months.

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