Former Ince partner lied about cancer fundraising
15 February 2013
Andrew Iyer, the former Ince & Co partner jailed last week for fraud, also lied about helping cancer victims in a bid to get an honour.

Iyer wanted an OBE, presumably believing that his many achievements - stealing £2.8m from his firm and clients, self-publishing a novel that never made a profit etc. - should be recognised by a grateful nation. He wrote to the Cabinet Office under the nom de plume of Elizabeth Herring, claiming to be a cancer specialist who was full of admiration for the (entirely fictitious) £1.8m Iyer had raised for Cancer Research.

And after Iyer's original application was turned down, he wrote again four years later. He tried to get various celebrities to write in on his behalf and sent numerous fake letters in support, some from Herring, others from names he'd pulled from a hat. Including "Terry Benjamin", who said he'd suffered from lung cancer and that Iyer had gone after his insurers on a pro bono basis. It was all lies, and a suspicious Department of Health contacted the police.

Andrew Iyer pretending to be someone suffering from cancer, yesterday

When the fraud squad told Iyer that his letters of support had been typed on his work computer, Iyer claimed that it was all part of research into a book he was writing on how to blag an honour. Although he couldn't show any draft material for the material.

Iyer pleaded guilty, with the judge remarking that it was "a gross abuse of the honours system". He was sent down for four years and eight months last week. So will at least be spending some time as a guest of Her Majesty, albeit at Wormwood Scrubs rather than the Palace.