A bankrupt oil tycoon once worth £125million charmed a struggling business by posing as an investor, only to have his mum pay a fraction of his funds and be caught living out of a sleeping bag in their office.
Calum Melville, former Dundee FC director, used his ‘charm and charisma’ to lure in the luxury spa break retailer and offered £50,000 to buy the business despite its £250,000 asking price.
When they turned him down, Melville – who in 2009 was on the Times rich list – instead agreed to invest the £50,000 after assuring I Need Pampering Ltd bosses that he had the money.
Former oli tycoon Calum Melville (pictured), 52, posed as an investor to a business only to have his mum pay a small fraction of the funds he promised
The former Dundee FC director (pictured) was caught living out of a sleeping bag in the I Need Pampering office
However, it took the so-called entrepreneur three months to finally cough up any money – which was a mere £4,500 paid by his mother.
Later, Melville was arrested after directors discovered him squatting at their Manchester office in his ‘yellow underwear’, where he was living on petty cash and running up bills in the company’s name including a £4,000 photocopier.
He had been living out of a sleeping bag on the office sofa for eight weeks.
Now, disgraced Melville, 52, has lost an employment tribunal – after he claimed he was unfairly dismissed – and was ordered to pay £18,136.
As well as sleeping in the office, Melville was living on petty cash and running up bills in the company’s name. Picture: General view of the I Need Pampering office
A senior I Need Pampering spokeswoman branded him a ‘con-artist’ and ‘monster’ who cost them ‘thousands and thousands’.
Ex-Dundee director Melville was 436th on the 2009 Sunday Times list, with an estimated fortune of £124 million, making him one of Scotland’s richest men.
However, the oil tycoon ran later faced court action over massive unpaid debts, was evicted from his lavish Gleneagles mansion in Scotland, was declared bankrupt in 2016 and fled the UK, and has also faced probes over his links with bankrupt firms.
The employment tribunal in Manchester heard Melville contacted I Need Pampering in October 2017, when its directors put it on the market.
A tribunal report said: ‘Melville described himself on his LinkedIn profile as ‘an entrepreneur with 30 years’ experience starting and running businesses from start-ups to 1,000+ people and companies’.
‘Melville emailed to say that he would only offer £50,000 to purchase the business. This offer was significantly under the asking price of £250,000.
‘Melville admitted to the respondent that he had a bad reputation but he assured them that he had the funds and ability to assist, and they noted he was very charming and charismatic.’
Melville agreed to invest £50,000 on November 1, 2017.
The report continued: ‘Melville originally indicated he would be operating from his offices in Scotland but then said that he had rented a property in a residential development near their Manchester office and he would work a little more from there in the New Year.
‘He asked for a key to the office premises to enable him to go into the office at unusual times on his return from abroad.
‘On January 29, 2018, Melville finally invested £4,500, not the £50,000 expected. The payment was in fact made by Melville’s mother. After January 29, 2019, Melville made no further payments to the [company].
‘It became apparent in early February that he did not have the funds to invest but was running up bills in the [company’s] name, including that he had signed a lease agreement with BNP Paribas, holding himself out to be a director of the [company] in order to obtain a £4,000 photocopier.’
It was heard the directors ‘subsequently found out that Melville was in fact living in their offices’.
The report said: ‘[One of the directors] found Melville in a sleeping bag on the sofa in the office and became aware that he was actually living there.
‘Melville was asked to leave [four days later]; he refused and was arrested and escorted out by the police.’
It was heard the directors, who said Melville lived on petty cash, ‘believed him when he said he wanted to be an investor’ and that ‘it would seem that this is not the first time Melville has been less than honest with business partners’.
The former Dundee director Melville (pictured) was 436th on the 2009 Sunday Times list, with an estimated fortune of £124 million, making him one of Scotland’s richest men
Melville, who did not attend the Manchester tribunal, had his unfair dismissal claim thrown out and was ordered to pay I Need Pampering £18,136 in costs.
Judge Sherrilyn Warren said: ‘Melville had led them to believe he was a man of substance with an interest in investing in businesses.’
Speaking today, the I Need Pampering spokeswoman said: ‘He cost us thousands and thousands, he ran up huge bills.
‘We call him a monster, that’s our name for him. He’s a real con artist, a real nasty piece of work.
‘The tribunal victory is a shallow one because he has caused so much damage but we are glad we can put it behind us.’
The spokeswoman said Melville was found squatting in ‘yellow underwear’ and had been there eight weeks. ‘He had run out of money’, she said.