James Morcomb: Convicted over car importation fraud after withdrawing from Turramurra property purchase

A man seeking to purchase a multimillion-dollar house in Sydney’s leafy north shore convinced his sales consultant to enter into a lucrative business venture. Little did he know he was dealing with a serial fraudster.

A serial fraudster caught swindling once more — this time in a bizarre motor vehicle importation scheme — was told “there is nowhere for the court to go” as he received yet another prison sentence.

James Morcomb, 55, who also goes by several aliases including James Morcom and Jamie Lawrence, was convicted of fraud after he pleaded guilty to dishonestly gaining financial advantage by deception.

Documents tendered to Hornsby Local Court lay out how Morcomb’s latest scheme began.

In 2019, three years after Morcomb was released from prison, he befriended sales consultant Gary Ward and expressed interest in purchasing a home in Turramurra.

“An offer of 4.2 million was made by the Morcomb which was later accepted by the vendors and a sale of contract was signed,” court documents state.

Morcomb will once again serve time behind bars for fraud.

While negotiating this deal, Morcomb asked Mr Ward if he would invest $15,000 in a sham motor vehicle business.

“(Morcomb) stated he was importing five prestige cars and one Harley Davidson motorcycle that would be sold through “Shannons Car Dealership” in six weeks, with potential profit of $40,000,” court documents state.

“The victim, believing this was a sound investment, agreed and via direct debit sent Morcomb three payments of $5000”.

But Mr Ward soon became suspicious when the multimillion dollar property sale fell through, the court heard.

Ward asked for the money he invested in Morcomb’s supposed business to be returned but never heard back from the fraudster.

Hornsby Courthouse. Picture: David Swift

When Ward contacted the police, their investigation confirmed none of his money went to buying vehicles — it was instead spent on “miscellaneous items” purchased in Melbourne and western Sydney, according to court documents.

“Police then confirmed with the vehicle imports section of the Department of Infrastructure that no vehicles had been or (were) due to be imported in Morcomb’s name,” court documents state.

Morcomb’s defence lawyer told the court her client knew jail time was a real possibility. “He is fully aware he risks returning to prison,” the defence said.

However, the defence described Morcomb’s previous experiences in prison as negative and asked the court to consider his poor physical and mental health.

But Magistrate Alexander Mijovich said jail time was unavoidable in this matter. “You used that money for your own benefit,” Magistrate Mijovich said.

“(It’s now) more than two years down the track and there doesn’t appear to be any attempts to repay the victim.”

Magistrate Mijovich also told the court Morcomb had been convicted of fraud, both in NSW and Tasmania, and had already served time behind bars for these crimes.

“There really is nowhere for the court to go but a custodial sentence,” Magistrate Mijovich said.

For his crime, Morcomb was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, with a non-parole period of six months. The earliest he can be released on parole is November 3 of this year.