A SELF-proclaimed “Kardashian of Cheshire” has been jailed after posing as a millionaire to con his own family and wealthy friends out of £200,000.
Jack Watkin splurged the cash in Harrods and five-star London hotel The Dorchester, where he racked up a bill of more than £100,000.
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He gained his victims’ trust with an “outward facade of a glamorous and luxurious lifestyle”.
Watkin, who appeared in Channel 4 documentary Rich Kids Of Instagram in 2016, claimed the money would be used to buy luxury Hermes handbags to sell for a profit.
Victims included friend Hannah Jakes, who lost £98,500, and Christine Colbert, owner of Dress Cheshire, who was defrauded of £43,800.
Watkin also conned his own dad Jason Watkin out of £24,500.
He has now been jailed for six years after pleading guilty to six counts of fraud totalling more than £195,000.
The court was told Watkins’ scam centred around luxury handbags – namely Hermes Birkin bags which start at £8,000.
As the bags are only sold by invitation, they carry a high resale value – with some fetching huge sums at auction.
Watkin told his victims he had the contacts that could give them access to the handbags and that they could split the profits made on resale.
But in reality, the crook was using their money to fund a lavish lifestyle.
Matthew Kerruish-Jones, prosecuting, said: “The defendant put forward the outward facade of a glamorous and luxurious lifestyle.
“This, it seems, engendered trust and led a number of individuals to loan him large sums of money on the promise of either a financial return, or luxury items. Neither of which materialised.”
He said complainants would be left “out of pocket for large sums of money”.
The prosecutor added: “The defendant would make excuses and avoid the complainants, all the while spending large sums of money on maintaining his seemingly lavish lifestyle.”
During a police probe, officers also discovered indecent images of children on Watkin’s mobile, including some from the most serious category of images.
He was convicted earlier this year of nine offences relating to that case.
Detective Constable Gareth Yates said: “Jack Watkin has built a lifestyle on social media, on Instagram, and that lifestyle is one of exuberance.
“So, if anyone was to look at that profile, you would see fancy hotels, luxury cars, designer clothing, and he created a following.
“As a result of that he then gets notoriety, from an Instagram perspective, followers, people.
“He often described himself as the Kardashian of Cheshire.
“What my understanding from that would be is that he is an individual of wealth and has the ability to purchase wealthy items.
“People follow him with the desire to be him.
“That following allowed him to create a ruse to be the fraudster we now know, and convicted fraudster.”
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