Conman Andrew Gradon's swindle continues

Oct 3 2010 by Coreena Ford, Sunday Sun

HE’S been duping air passengers across Europe for years.

But it seems airport conman Andrew Gradon may be swapping departure lounges for double-deckers, if the latest suspected sighting is anything to go by.

The County Durham trickster’s latest victim wasn’t a businessman . . . he tricked a woman waiting for a bus in Wallsend, North Tyneside out of £1.80.

Josephine Hepple said: "It was him. It was most definitely him."

The Sunday Sun told how Gradon, born in Marske-by-the-Sea, Teesside, has been conning scores of flight passengers out of cash since 2002, with some investigators saying he could be making as much as £15,000 a month through his slick hustle – that’s more than Prime Minister David Cameron.

Gradon, 37, targets businessmen and women carrying briefcases in airports, telling them he’s just missed his flight and that he desperately needs a bit of cash – usually between £40 and £200 – to help him book the next flight back to Newcastle.

He promises to repay the cash when he gets home, but when his kind-hearted victims try email addresses or telephone numbers he hands over, none of them work.

Last month we told how we were contacted by Tommy Forsell, a graphics company boss from Stockholm, Sweden, who gave him 40 Euros (£33) after falling for his clever sob story at Frankfurt Airport.

Tommy was clever enough to take a snap of his passport on his iPhone, which the Sunday Sun printed, meaning we could unmask the conman for the first time.