Pulling off the Ritz

From the Beeb:

A jobless lorry driver who pulled off an “elaborate and outrageous scam” to sell London’s Ritz Hotel for £250m has been jailed for five years.

Oh, come on! This story is hilarious. What happened to the good old British sense of humour? I mean, an unemployed lorry driver successfully passes himself off as a good friend of the Barclay brothers and people actually believe him. For this he is punished?

Quoth Det Sgt Ridler, the policeman who led the investigation: “It was well-planned, it was well thought out and there were victims […] Reputations were ruined.”

Yes indeed, people were revealed as immensely gullible and/or greedy. It was the kind of thing that was bound to come out eventually so he probably did them a favour.