A fraudster from High Wycombe has been jailed after conning people out of more than £2 million by falsely advertising “luxury” goods including holidays and cars on genuine websites.

George-Lucian Govoreanu, 34, of Eaton Avenue, was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison at Harrow Crown Court on Tuesday, April 4.

Govoreanu’s activities formed part of an organised Romanian crime network whereby the gang used fake internet adverts to trick members of the public to pay large sums of money for “high value” goods they never received.

The adverts for the non-existent goods – which included luxury cars, holidays and property rentals – were placed on genuine internet marketplace websites such as Autotrader, Gumtree and Air BnB.

Govoreanu’s role in the gang was to recruit and manage a team of around 20 people who opened bank accounts using counterfeit documents that he supplied and proceeds of the fraudulent internet transactions were laundered through these accounts.

He would source ‘account mules’ in Romania, pay for their flights to and from the UK, and on arrival he would provide them with somewhere to stay while they worked for him.

The value of fraud attributed to Govoreanu’s strand of the crime network is £2,375,360.63 which was laundered through 221 fraudulently opened bank accounts.

Detectives from the Metropolitan Police’s Organised Crime Command launched the investigation into Govoreanu’s activities on June 2016 and arrested him on August 11 2016 on suspicion of conspiracy to commit fraud.

He was remanded in custody and appeared at Harrow Crown Court on October 27 2016, where he admitted to the offences, and was remanded in custody again while he awaited his sentence.

Detective Constable Chris Collins of the Met's Organised Crime Command said: "This network has conned people out of their hard-earned cash with fraudulent adverts, usually for vehicles, holidays and property lettings, things that people have often had to save for.

“They make the fake ads appear credible by placing them on genuine online marketplaces such as Autotrader, Gumtree and Airbnb.

"The 'crime holidays' facilitated by Govoreanu - whereby he provided flights and accommodation for those opening bank accounts - have provided the wider network with the means to launder the ill-gotten cash that was fraudulently taken from unwitting victims."

Marketplace website, Gumtree, condemned Govoreanu’s actions, and urged anyone who thinks they may come across a scam on the website to report it immediately.

A spokesman said: "Gumtree does not tolerate fraudulent activity by its users and this individual has been rightly brought to justice for scamming innocent people.

"Gumtree’s dedicated safety team works hard to identify and remove fraudsters from the site and we work with police and other authorities on an ongoing basis to prevent these gangs from operating.

"We urge anyone who thinks they’ve come across a scam to report it to us immediately.

"Millions of people use Gumtree every day and the vast majority have a safe and successful experience."

Police are continuing to investigate and identify others involved in the gang.