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Former Brookside actor jailed for nine years over £13m modelling fraud
Overview
Philip Foster, a former actor who played Christian Wright in the soap Brookside, has been sentenced to nine years in prison after fleeing to Spain during his trial for a £13.6m modelling fraud. Foster ran a network of fake modelling agencies and photographic studios that targeted thousands of aspiring models and their parents over an eight-year period. Following his arrest in Alicante in September and subsequent extradition to the UK, he received an extra six-month sentence for absconding, adding to his earlier sentence for fraud and money laundering.
Key points
- Former Brookside actor Philip Foster was jailed for a total of nine years for running a £13.6m modelling fraud.
- Foster fled to Spain before his trial and was arrested in Alicante in September before being extradited to the UK.
- He ran a network of fake modelling agencies and photographic studios across multiple UK cities for over eight years.
- More than 6,000 victims were conned out of money after responding to social media adverts promising paid modelling work.
- Victims were pressured into paying for expensive photographic portfolios that failed to secure them professional jobs.