Evil conman's false vows to repay victims

Convicted Cloake said he had €34k inheritance.... but only returned €6k

-  JOHN HAND

A CRUEL fraudster who preyed on vulnerable migrants made false promises of repaying his victims after he pleaded guilty to his crimes.

Alan Cloake - who swindled 10 people out of €71,000 posing as an immigration officer claiming he would get them citizenship - vowed to hand over €34,000 in compensation to those he duped.

The con artist, 47, had told a court earlier this year that he was due to get this inheritance money from the sale of his grandmother's house.

Having declared this, those scammed gave victim impact statements some of which included references saying it was their belief they would get some of their money back.

But the Irish Mirror can reveal that following inquiries by investigators from the Garda National Immigration Bureau, they established the crook was only going to get a measly €1,700 if his relative's house was sold.