A former Brookside star has been jailed for a multi-million modelling fraud scheme.
Philip Foster, who played Christian Wright on the Liverpool-based soap opera between 1995 and 1997, ran the operation over a period of more than eight years.
The 49-year-old conned more than 6,000 people into parting with their money on false promises that he could help secure paid modelling work for them.
He is one of nine people to be sentenced over the £13.6M scheme that operated a string of UK sham modelling agencies uncovered by National Trading Standards.
Victims were sent emails after responding to social media advertising campaigns before being invited to a ‘free’ test shoot at photography studios set up locally.
Some of those duped by Foster used unregulated credit deals and payday loans to pay for a portfolio of poor-quality images they were pressured into buying.
Foster, credited as Philip Dowd in his acting days, received an eight-and-a-half year prison sentence at Sheffield Crown Court on Friday for conspiracy to defraud.
NTS chairman Lord Bichard said: “Foster’s cruel exploits left thousands of victims in serious debt, causing lasting emotional distress and significant financial pressures
“Today’s sentences are an important reminder to would-be criminals that Trading Standards officers across the country are determined to clamp down on fraud, protecting victims and bringing criminals to justice.”