A self-proclaimed Instagram millionaire who once bragged his family were the “British Kardashians” has been jailed for six years for scamming friends and relatives, including his own father, out of almost £200,000.
Jack Watkin posed as a wealthy socialite on social media to persuade people to invest in his fake designer handbag business. The 26-year-old former public schoolboy promised his victims a share of the profits if they loaned him cash to buy and sell expensive Hermès bags.
Chester Crown Court heard neither the handbags nor any profit ever materialised and instead Watkin used the cash to fund his extravagant lifestyle.
Over a period of two and a half years, the unemployed fraudster spent a staggering £1.2 million on five-star hotels, luxury holidays and designer goods.
He stayed at top hotels, spending £139,000 at London’s Dorchester Hotel between March 2019 and December 2022. He also paid more than £22,000 to travel around the capital in a chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce and regularly visited Harrods, where he scouted for victims and spent almost £68,000.
Elaborate Instagram Ruse
Watkin was eventually caught when one of his victims turned detective and lured him to a meeting in Alderley Edge. When he arrived, the victim contacted another fraud victim who called Cheshire Police detectives, who swooped to arrest him.
Officers later executed warrants on his self-storage “wardrobe” in Knightsbridge and discovered a treasure trove of designer goods and clothes.
In June, pony-tailed Watkin, who was privately educated, admitted six counts of fraud against six victims between December 2019 and August 2024, totalling more than £195,000.
Sentencing the fraudster at Chester Crown Court on Monday, Judge Simon Berkson told him: “You used an outward persona as someone wealthy and well connected in order to dupe the victims of your fraudulent behaviour.”
“You described yourself as a millionaire and talked about your knowledge of luxury products, you stayed at luxury hotels like the Dorchester and drank in exclusive bars, such as Harrods.”
“You suggested you could be a person who could be trusted but your true motivation turned out to be to defraud people out of money and spend it all on yourself.”
Channel 4 Documentary Star
Watkin, who also has a previous conviction for drink driving, was featured in the Channel 4 documentary Rich Kids Of Instagram, which first aired in 2016, aged 17.
In the programme he likened his family to the wealthy US Kardashian dynasty, and bragged about having a fleet of supercars, including a Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Range Rover, worth £1.7 million.
He also claimed he regularly flew on his father’s private jet, splurged £500,000 on a Bulgari watch and was living in a mansion with a swimming pool in Alderley Edge, one of the exclusive towns in Cheshire’s “golden triangle”.
He told the documentary: “My life is not easy. My dad has worked very hard to make sure I can have all these nice things. Our private jet doesn’t just fly itself; our pool doesn’t just clean itself; all my cars don’t automatically fill themselves with petrol.”
Hermès Handbag Scheme
The catalyst for his offending came six years ago, in 2019, when his parents split up and Watkin was effectively cut off by his property mogul father, Jason Watkin, 55, who disapproved of his extravagant spending.
Prosecutor Matthew Kerruish-Jones said Watkin cooked up the scam, which centred around the high-end French designer brand Hermès and involved promising investors the chance of making a quick profit out of the handbags.
The fashion house only allows select customers to buy their exclusive handbags, which often have a higher second-hand resale value than when bought new.
Mr Kerruish-Jones said Watkin persuaded one family friend to invest by claiming he had a personal relationship with the director of Hermès that afforded him special access to their luxury bags.
He also posed as a millionaire on social media to persuade his victims to hand over cash.
Mr Kerruish-Jones said: “The defendant put forward the outward façade 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.”
But, the barrister added: “Neither of which materialised. The reality was once he had been provided the money it would not be repaid as agreed, leaving multiple individuals in this case out of pocket for large sums of money.”
Multiple Victims
The court heard that Watkin defrauded Hannah Jakes, one of his longtime friends, out of more than £98,500, whilst businesswoman Christine Colbert, who owns a designer boutique, lost £43,800.
Watkin was also accused of stealing a blue Hermès bag, worth £21,000, and a Goyard alligator handbag, worth £8,000 from Ms Colbert’s store, Dress Cheshire, in Prestbury, Cheshire.
He also defrauded his own father out of almost £14,000.
The jury heard Watkin’s relationship with his father soured around December 2019 when he refused to loan his son £100,000 for his luxury goods business. Watkin also claimed his father was unsympathetic when trading became difficult during the Covid pandemic.
But Mr Kerruish-Jones said Mr Watkin was concerned by the amount of money the defendant appeared to be spending on his social life, despite having no formal employment.
Another victim was businessman James Irlam, who was introduced to Watkin via his mother-in-law. She was a friend of Watkin’s mother, Jo Stringfellow.
Mr Irlam initially bought a Hermès Birkin bag off Watkin for his wife’s birthday but subsequently lost around £24,500 after being persuaded to invest in his business proposal.
Barman Andor Farkas, who worked in Harrods, also lost around £14,000 in the scam.
Watkin told Mr Farkas he was a millionaire and, after the pair became friends, promised him a financial return if he allowed him to spend money on his personal credit card.
The final victim, Naheem Akhtar, was introduced to Watkin via social media. Mr Akhtar said Watkin gave the perception on social media that he was a millionaire and involved in the fashion industry.
He agreed to transfer £840 to Watkin’s bank account for him to source a pair of summer walk shoes by the Italian designer brand Lora Piana. But Mr Akhtar never received the shoes and when he chased Watkin he was met with endless excuses including that he was in hospital.
Caught By Victim Turned Detective
Watkin was finally caught when Ms Colbert, who had been repeatedly requesting her money back, lost patience and put a post on Instagram warning the public to stay away from him because she had been defrauded.
Ms Jakes saw the post and got in touch with Ms Colbert. The pair realised they had both been duped and agreed to turn Miss Marple together.
In March last year, Ms Jakes, who had been friends with Watkin for more than a decade, set up a meeting with him in Alderley Edge. When he arrived she contacted Ms Colbert who in turn called detectives from Cheshire Police, who arrived to arrest him.
When questioned Watkin claimed his lifestyle was funded by his mother and a partner, who he refused to name.
He claimed it was his intention to repay Ms Colbert, but he needed more time. He also suggested she owed him cash and Ms Jakes was flexible about the outstanding money he owed.
But when officers began to investigate Watkin’s finances they discovered that he had been pawning some of the luxury goods and had been made bankrupt a year earlier.
Child Abuse Images Discovery
They also seized his mobile phone and discovered a haul of child abuse images and extreme pornography on the device.
Earlier this year Watkin was convicted following a trial at the same court of five counts of making indecent images of children, two counts of possession of indecent images of children, plus one count of possession of a prohibited image of a child and another charge of possession of an extreme pornographic image.
He was jailed for 18 months for those offences, plus another four and a half years for the six charges of fraud.
Victim Impact Statements
Ms Colbert became tearful as she read a victim impact statement to the court on Monday.
She described how Watkin had taken her for a fool and his actions had left her feeling ashamed, embarrassed, stupid and sick.
“I actually can’t put into words how this has made me feel, but I can tell you that it has left me with lasting scars that no one can see,” she said.
“I have cried by myself with my head in my hands more times than I can recall. I did not open my shop to find myself on a four-year-long wild goose chase, constantly trying to track down Jack Watkin’s whereabouts, on what I now know was one big game designed to fund his own lifestyle through lying and deceiving me.”
She said Watkin targeted her, infiltrated her life and groomed her, taking all the joy out of running her business.
When she realised she had been scammed, Ms Colbert said she was forced into a relentless game of cat and mouse with Watkin to try and get her money back.
“He preyed on my good nature as a hardworking individual, taking my savings, taking my personal handbags, as well as handbags from my shop,” she added.
Ms Jakes, who had been friends with Watkin since the age of 14, also said he had taken advantage of her good nature and lied to her. She described him as greedy, jealous and narcissistic.
The court heard that Watkin had a difficult relationship with his father, who divorced his mother when he was aged seven.
Mr Watkin told the court that he hoped his son would use his time in prison to reflect on how his criminality had affected his victims and his wider family, especially his elderly grandparents, who were absolutely devastated by his offending.
Mr Farkas also said he had been left in dire financial straits by Watkin’s actions but the conman had shown no remorse. Mr Farkas said he had struggled to pay his rent and did not have enough money for basic needs.
Mental Health Issues
In mitigation, Rebecca Caulfield, defending Watkin, said he had been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome and anxiety, and had struggled with his sexual identity since a young teenager.
He had a dysfunctional relationship with his parents and, from the age of 14, was referred to adolescent mental health services, who referenced him living in a fantasy world, the barrister said.
Ms Caulfield said Watkin had a distinct lack of emotional maturity and added: “There came a point when what began as a legitimate business changed into something that became fraudulent and he lost control of, continuing to borrow money that he couldn’t pay back to fund his lifestyle.”
Following the sentencing, Ms Colbert said she was very pleased with the prison term.
“I’ve thought about this day for such a long time,” she said. “I was here today for all the other victims in this case. There may be a £200,000 fraud but we all know it was more than that. He spent £1.2 million in just a few months. I am disgusted and disappointed with Jack.”
Detective Constable Gareth Yates, who led the investigation for Cheshire Police, also said he welcomed the sentence.
He said: “Jack Watkin built a lifestyle on social media, on Instagram, and that lifestyle is one of exuberance. He often described himself as the Kardashian of Cheshire.”
“If anyone was to look at that profile, they would see fancy hotels, luxury cars, designer clothing. He created a following, and that following allowed him to create a ruse to be the fraudster we now know.”
He added that he hoped Watkin would think about what he had done and come out a better person.
Fraud is a crime that’s not taken as seriously as others, but the emotional damage is great and long-lasting,” the officer said.
Senior Crown Prosecutor Laura Atherton said Watkin was incredibly charismatic and persuasive.
“Some of these frauds span several years, and so clearly, to be able to convince an individual for that length of time that you are going to repay money and you are going to provide goods, you have to be an incredibly charismatic and persuasive person to keep that up,” she said.
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