Edward Davenport (fraudster)

Edward Davenport (fraudster)

Edward Ormus Sharington Davenport, also known as Fast Eddie and (self-styled) "Lord" Edward Davenport, (born 11 July 1966) is a convicted British fraudster and property developer. He came to prominence in the late 1980s as the organiser of the controversial Gatecrasher Balls for wealthy teenagers. After being convicted of tax offences in 1990, he started on a second career as a property developer. He claimed to have acquired a substantial fortune but also attracted controversy for his business practices such as the way he acquired the former High Commission building of Sierra Leone in London, during the country's civil war. From 2005 to 2009 he was the "ringmaster" of a series of advance-fee fraud schemes that defrauded dozens of individuals out of millions of pounds. He was arrested and charged in December 2009 and was convicted in September 2011 along with five other defendants, receiving a jail sentence of seven years and eight months.