WENDY Stubbs thought that she’d met her dream man when she matched with Christian Barber on a dating site. He was a lottery winner who owned a fleet of luxury cars and a hotel complex in Barbados, as well as a large house in the exclusive Cornish resort of Rock - or so she thought. “He was perfect,” says 58-year-old Wendy.
“He was there to save me.” She had recently divorced from her husband, and was on dating apps looking for someone to “share things with”. Wendy was wooed by how much she had in common with Christian, as well as their shared love for holidays.
“I thought, ‘crikey, this man’s brilliant!’” she adds. “We had some good times and we had fun..
. he was fun to be with. “But looking back, he was just a mere actor.
” This string of lies was conman Christian’s way of gaining Wendy’s trust (and bank details) before swindling £20,000 out of her bank account in small increments. She wasn’t his only victim, though. Christian, 52, frauded at least six women out of more than £45,000 between September 2011 and March 2013.
After meeting on popular dating sites and in hotel lobbies, he would gain their trust by showing them photographs of at least eight luxury cars he supposedly owned, such as Maseratis and Porsches. He would also pay off their credit card bills, offer help towards rent and supposedly book lavish romantic holidays. Then, he would ‘reveal’ why he was so rich.
Christian would tell his female victims that he was a £118 Eur.