Solicitor cleared of £250m Ritz Hotel scam

A SOLICITOR was cleared yesterday of taking part in an ambitious scam with a Limerick man to try to sell the Ritz Hotel for £250 million (€300m).

Conn Farrell, 57, was accused of adding a “veneer of legitimacy” to a con in which victims interested in the high-stakes world of trophy properties were sucked in with false promises until they handed over £1 million.

However, yesterday a jury found him not guilty of conspiracy to defraud following more than 13 hours of deliberations at the end of a four-week trial at Southwark Crown Court in central London.