David Ames was a twice-bankrupt double-glazing salesman from Basildon with dreams of building a Caribbean property empire. His company, Harlequin, promised ordinary investors luxury resort properties at bargain prices – their slice of paradise and financial security.
Over nearly a decade, more than 8,000 people handed over £400 million. Many bet their entire pension pots on Ames' vision.
But behind Ames’ slick marketing pitch lay financial chaos and systematic deception. While investors waited for dream properties, their money funded pirate ships, imported sand that washed away with the tide, and eye-watering sales commissions.
From a local newspaper investigation that exposed the scheme to the Serious Fraud Office's decade-long pursuit of justice, this is the story of how thousands lost everything betting on one man’s vision.
Featuring exclusive interviews with victims, investigators, and industry insiders, The Lost Caribbean Millions reveals the human cost of one of Britain's biggest investment frauds.
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Hosts George Odling and Andy Jehring examine the claims of innocence from the family of convicted fraudster David Ames, exploring the troubling question of genuine belief versus elaborate denial regarding the Harlequin operation.
23 Oct 2025TRANSCRIPT
The Wreckage | Episode 4
This episode of Heists, Scams & Lies reveals how David Ames's Harlequin properties empire collapsed, costing 8,000 investors nearly £400 million as independent financial advisors profited from pushing the properties.
16 Oct 2025TRANSCRIPT
The Storm Hits | Episode 3
Investigators explore the Harlequin business, discovering threatening letters and tips to the Serious Fraud Office as David Ames faces a choice impacting thousands of investors.
9 Oct 2025TRANSCRIPT
Pirates in the Caribbean
Hosts George Odling and Andy Jehring explore how Harlequin's business booms in 2008, but investor money funds pirate ships and private airlines, while construction spirals into chaos, ultimately shocking Ames.
9 Oct 2025TRANSCRIPT
The Big Sell
Hosts George Odling and Andy Jehring examine how twice-bankrupt salesman David Ames, with celebrity endorsements, sold Caribbean paradise resorts, leading investors to hand over life savings before cracks appeared.
17 Sept 2025TRANSCRIPT
Introducing... The Lost Caribbean Millions
This episode of Heists, Scams & Lies investigates how David Ames defrauded 8,000 investors out of £400 million with a Caribbean property empire scheme, revealing the devastating impact on their lives.
20 May 2025TRANSCRIPT
The Hunt for Tamara Ecclestone's Diamonds | Treasure Hunt
Reporters Andy Jehring and George Odling investigate the hunt for Tamara Ecclestone's diamonds, following a trail of clues that leads them to a potential source in Serbia.
13 May 2025TRANSCRIPT
The Hunt for Tamara Ecclestone's Diamonds | The Chase
Reporters George Odling and Andy Jehring investigate the Tamara Ecclestone diamond heist, traveling to Europe to uncover the real identity of the prime suspect, Daniel Vukovic.
6 May 2025TRANSCRIPT
The Hunt for Tamara Ecclestone's Diamonds | The Sting
Reporters George Odling and Andy Jehring investigate the 2020 arrests in the Tamara Ecclestone diamond heist, detailing the gang's structure and the pursuit of the alias Daniel Vukovic in this interview episode.
29 Apr 2025TRANSCRIPT
The Hunt for Tamara Ecclestone's Diamonds | The Hunt
Reporters George Odling and Andy Jehring recount the police investigation into the Tamara Ecclestone diamond heist, detailing how detectives used CCTV footage and an unusual picture to identify suspects.
29 Apr 2025TRANSCRIPT
The Hunt
Reporters George Odling and Andy Jehring dissect the police investigation of a heist, revealing how detectives used CCTV footage and unusual clues to identify suspects.
22 Apr 2025TRANSCRIPT
The Heist
In December 2019, international jewel thieves ransacked the home of Tamara Ecclestone and stole £2million worth of loot in the biggest burglary in British history. The thieves took every piece of jewellery Ecclestone owned, snatched her husband’s watches and desecrated their £75million mansion on Kensington’s Billionaire’s Row.
Who were the thieves? How did they do it? In this episode, reporters George Odling and Andy Jering hear from Tamara Ecclestone’s husband, Jay Rutland, and Detective Constable Andrew Payne of the Met Police’s elite Flying Squad – one of the first officers assigned to the case – as they begin their own hunt for Tamara Ecclestone’s missing diamonds.
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New episodes released weekly. Don’t want to wait? Join The Crime Desk now and hear all episodes in the series as soon as it launches. Plus, you'll get exclusive weekly bonus episodes of our award-winning podcast The Trial, ad-free listening across all of our shows, and early access to brand-new series. Become a member today at thecrimedesk.com.
Reporters: Andy Jehring and George Odling
Producer: Julia Webster
Sound Design: Jarek Zaba and John Scott
Studio Manager: Sam Chisholm
Executive Producers: Jamie East and Bella Soames
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22 Apr 2025TRANSCRIPT
The Hunt for Tamara Ecclestone's Diamonds | The Heist
Reporters George Odling and Andy Jehring investigate the 2019 burglary of Tamara Ecclestone's home, interviewing Jay Rutland and Detective Constable Andrew Payne about the hunt for the stolen diamonds in this interview episode.
11 Apr 2025TRANSCRIPT
Coming Soon... S1: The Hunt for Tamara Ecclestone's Diamonds
Coming soon... Heists, Scams & Lies, Series 1: The Hunt For Tamara Ecclestone's Diamonds.
It was supposed to be impenetrable. A palatial home on London’s Billionaires’ Row, guarded round-the-clock by ex-military security, in one of the most heavily-patrolled streets in the country.
And yet, on a cold night in December 2019, a group of audacious thieves pulled off the perfect burglary, slipping inside the Kensington home of Formula 1 heiress, Tamara Ecclestone and vanishing into the night with an incredible £25 million in diamonds, cash, and jewellery. How?
In this jaw-dropping investigation, Daily Mail reporters George Odling and Andy Jehring embark on a years-long hunt for answers—knocking on doors across Europe, chasing leads in Serbia’s criminal underworld, and uncovering a story far more complex than anyone had imagined.
From luxury mansions to the shadowy depths of organised crime, Heists, Scams & Lies investigates the truth behind the biggest domestic burglary in British history to try and find out once and for all: where are Tamara Ecclestone’s missing diamonds?
New episodes released weekly. Don’t want to wait? Join The Crime Desk now and hear all episodes in the series as soon as it launches. Plus, you'll get exclusive weekly bonus episodes of our award-winning podcast The Trial, ad-free listening across all of our shows, and early access to brand-new series. Become a member today at thecrimedesk.com.
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Inside a recent episode
Walter Mitty | Episode 5
Published 30 Oct 2025 · Transcript excerpt
[…] He's very enthusiastic, optimistic. He had worked for different double glazing companies and he had his own company, which I'm fondly went down, but that happens to a lot of people. The SFO made the point that he'd been declared bankrupt twice before Harlequin came into being. So, how did that happen? One was a double glazing company, I can't remember what the other one was, but as a say, it's not a crime to be bankrupt, and a lot of people don't realise that actually Henry Ford caused and walked disney with both bankrupts as well. I didn't know. Yeah, yeah. So, you know, it's not a crime. It's unfortunate, but it's not a crime. […]
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