Ray Nevitt was yesterday found guilty in his absence after an 11-week trial at Manchester Crown Court on five counts of fraudulent trading worth £3.25million. But he vanished two years ago after being freed on bail while awaiting sentencing for defrauding the taxpayer. An international arrest warrant has been issued for the playboy fraudster, who has a penchant for fast cars and rubbed shoulders with celebrities. Police believe Nevitt, from Manchester, may be in Puerto Banus or Marbella in Spain. He set up a firm called Ravelle in 1991, which sold second-hand computer parts to the PC maintenance industry. Slick, brash and forceful, he "had a problem understanding what was company money and what was his money", witnesses told the court. He enjoyed trips to Las Vegas, Monaco, Verbier and Singapore on company credit cards. Police began investigating the Ravelle Group of companies, including PC2GO Ltd and Just Printers Ltd in 2001. As his firms were going under they carried on trading - and Nevitt continued with his lavish lifestyle, despite knowingly having no prospect of being able to pay suppliers. He forged paperwork so firms would lend him money on the strength of bogus orders - known as "fresh air" invoicing.
Det Con Julian King, from Greater Manchester Police Commercial Fraud Unit said: "This was a complex and elaborate fraud that allowed Nevitt to live an opulent and lavish lifestyle." The firm's finance director Jeremy Greene, 48, a chartered accountant, was yesterday convicted of three counts of fraudulent trading.
Kay Boardman, 49, also a director, was convicted of one count of fraudulent trading.
They will be sentenced next month - along with Nevitt, if he is caught.
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