A romance conman who scammed women out of almost £50,000 by claiming to work for the BBC and MI6 has been jailed.
Rodney Ade Roberts, 40, of Trowbridge, Cardiff, was jailed for more than five years at Newport Crown Court.
Roberts, a kitchen porter, has a long history of fraud dating back to 2015, with six convictions for seven offences, including romance fraud.
Under the alias “Paul Smith”, Roberts defrauded three women out of a total of £49,580 between 2021 and 2024 after meeting on online dating websites.
He is said to have used the fraudulent funds to finance his luxurious lifestyle of clothes and drugs.
Judge Celia Hughes described his conduct as a “massive abuse of trust” and called him “selfish and narcissistic”.
She also praised the victims for their bravery.
The court heard how Roberts told elaborate lies about his identity and career to gain the trust of unsuspecting victims.
Rodney Ade Roberts, who scammed women out of almost £50,000 by claiming to work for the BBC and MI6 has been jailed
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TARIAN ROCU
He convinced a woman he was an American financial expert working in the UK, before telling her this was a cover, and he actually worked for MI6. The court heard how this woman lost up to £40,000 to his scams.
Roberts also claimed to a freelance artist he met online that he was an American television producer working for the BBC, showing her a fake lanyard.
During their five-month relationship, Roberts defrauded the victim out of £8,660, including £4,000 he claimed he needed as a deposit for a flat.
He also claimed, three months into their relationship, his father had died and he required £250 to buy a painting to remember him.
Rodney Ade Roberts was given a reduced sentence for the guilty pleas and jailed for 61 months
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PAShe eventually discovered he had previous cases of romance fraud after finding old news articles and reported him.
“He violated my finances, my body and my sense of self,” she told the court.
“I am quite determined to heal. I want to be able to speak openly for my own recovery and to support other women harmed by him, or men like him.”
One victim is Rachel Serjeant, 30, from Bristol, said she met Roberts via an online dating app, and he scammed her out of £980.
Roberts claimed to be from California, working in media and law. He persuaded her to send him money, such as £150 on Christmas Eve for a car tyre after he threatened he would not visit her on Boxing Day if she refused.
“The betrayal of trust is far deeper than the loss of the money. Everything I believed to be real was not. He didn’t even tell me his real name,” she said.
Merely days before the start of his trial, Roberts admitted three counts of fraud by false representation. He was given a reduced sentence for the guilty pleas and jailed for 61 months.
He has been ordered to repay the money he defrauded the women out of within two years and has been made subject to a serious crime prevention order.
Detective Constable Amanda Davies, of the Tarian regional organised crime unit, said: “Fraudsters, and romance fraudsters in particular, excel at spinning a narrative that can sound plausible to victims.
“If you feel that something could be too good to be true, I encourage you to trust your instincts. Reach out to friends or family. If you believe you may have been a victim of romance fraud, report it to Report Fraud.”