File on 4 Investigates
File on 4 Investigates
BBC Radio 4
Anatomy of a fraud
37 minutes Posted Nov 12, 2019 at 8:30 pm.
0:00
37:04
Download MP3
Show notes

Dodgy diamonds, missing millions - and the victims failed by justice.

It starts with a phone call. Cynthia Tuck, a retired nurse and widow in her 80's, is charmed by a man offering her the chance to help put her grandchildren through university. All it would take is a small initial investment. Fast forward three years and Mrs Tuck has lost her entire life savings - hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Three years on, in 2019, her fight for justice has hit a dead end. No charges. No trial. Everyone involved still at large. What went wrong? And why is the system failing millions of fraud victims like Cynthia Tuck?

Reporter: Dan Whitworth

Producer: Simon Maybin
Editor: Hugh Levinson