Paul Scott Murphy: Tiler turned Ponzi fraudster jailed for seven years six months for $2.62m rip-off

A tiler who felt the trade was “beneath him” and became a Ponzi fraudster to feed his raging gambling habit has been handed a hefty jail term for a $2.62 million rip-off. Paul Scott Murphy kicked off the rort in 2013 when he told his partner’s obstetrician that he could help him with share trading and offered to do it for free as a friend, saying he was starting a managed investment fund and sought a group of investors. The doctor — who needed money to treat his daughter’s progressive brain disorder — helped him spread the word as Murphy lied that he had previously worked on the London Stock Exchange. Murphy said he planned to open his own such business and registered the company name Future Capital Pty Ltd, with himself as the sole director. “You talked yourself up, in effect,” District Court of WA Judge Karen Shepherd said this week. “You then engaged in numerous acts of deception, deceit, and lies in order to encourage — and ultimately obtain —significant amounts of money.” His victims directed him where they wanted to invest their monies but none of it went into shares. “They all went into your own pocket,” the judge said. The 51-year-old was living the high life, renting an expensive waterfront house in Halls Head, going on holidays, buying vehicles, designer goods and jewellery, and making payments to family lawyers. His “complex web of lies” went on until 2022 and included fabricated documents such as buy and sell order receipts, and “regular but false market updates”, Judge Shepherd said. Murphy even claimed he could buy shares “cheaper than the market rate due to buying large quantities”, with the biggest outlay by a single victim a whopping $929,000. To induce that man — another doctor — Murphy used the legitimate name of a small private company called The Naked Song, claiming it would be listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange and the GP would get a handsome return once floated. “You were never involved in that company at all,” Judge Shepherd said. Murphy paid some of the cash back, making the victims believe they were receiving the proceeds of share sales “to maintain the veneer of legitimacy to what was, in effect, a Ponzi scheme”. When it started to unravel, he threatened one victim — who suffered a litany of diseases and had known him for about 17 years — “that if she went to the police, she would never receive any of her money back”. “You’ve left many of your victims with nothing, facing what should have been their retirement years,” the judge said. “You stripped small business owners of what little savings they had. “You knew that some of your victims were especially vulnerable, needing money for medical treatment. Or money for their special needs children. “You took advantage of all of your victims, all hardworking, everyday people. “Your greed had no moral compass.” The court was told he only completed year 10 in the UK and started work at 16 at the London International Financial Futures Exchange as a runner, working his way up to pitch trader. After moving to Australia, he ran his own tiling business before stints in currency and futures trading, and had a job with stockbroker DJ Carmichael but also flipped cars and developed a gambling addiction. “You bet and lost significant amounts of money and monies that you had stolen from your victims,” the judge said. Murphy will be eligible for parole after serving five years and six months behind bars.