A NORTH-EAST loan shark who pocketed nearly £1.5m from an elaborate international fraud was jailed for six years yesterday.

George Steen, 54, was the ringleader of a gang which defrauded businessmen from around the world by persuading them to part with large up-front "admin fees" for phantom loans between 1996 and 1999.

The Darlington conman, the leader of a trio of "ruthless, cynical, greedy fraudsters", led an affluent lifestyle from the proceeds of the sting.

Steen, who lived in Geneva Road, was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court in London, only hours after he was brought back to the UK after fleeing to his Philippine hideaway four months into the trial.

His agents, David Andrews, 38, and Dennis Alexander, 47, both from East Sussex, were jailed for five years and two years respectively.

Another man, Colin Hardy, from Redcar, was also allegedly involved in the fraud, but he died last year.

The court heard that they snared victims in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand by offering unbeatable rates on multi-million pound loans.

Hundreds of applications were received for loans ranging between £500,000 and £20m for businesses including hospitals, hotels and golf courses.

The clients, whose commercial ambitions often exceeded their financial acumen, would then fly to the UK to meet the gang in luxury hotels where the deals were arranged.

After forking out thousands of pounds in administration fees, they were told to come up with a bond amounting to 40 per cent of the loan value.

When they complained they did not have that sort of cash, the gang told them they should have read the small print and fled with the money they had already received.

The reality was that none of the defendants had any intention of assisting the clients to obtain loans.

The funds were never there and both Steen and Alexander were later to admit in interview that no client had ever received a loan.

The court heard that not one applicant ever received a penny and none of the cash has been recovered.

One of the businessmen who lost a fortune, Australian Ian Hopper, planned to set up a string of restaurants with movie-mogul Steven Spielberg.

He needed the cash to open a chain of submarine-themed outlets in Australia and the Far East. The gang left other victims heavily in debt.

The jury returned guilty verdicts on all three on Monday, but by then Steen was already in the Philippines, having fled there at the end of May.

He was picked up on June 19 by the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation and a deportation order was made.

The Philippine authorities put him on a London-bound flight. He was arrested at Heathrow Airport in the early hours of yesterday and delivered to Southwark Crown Court for sentencing.

Judge Andrew Goyer described Steen as "the main culprit" who "did not express any regret that applicants lost money".

He added: "You had experience of small scale domestic loans and you turned this to fraudulent use.

"You constructed a series of legal fictions behind which you thought you could shelter.

"You ended up with almost £1.5m and enjoyed an affluent lifestyle."

The judge ordered that the matter of Steen's absconding be adjourned to be heard on July 10 at Maidstone Crown Court.

A hearing to cover matters relating to orders for confiscation, compensation and costs is set for December 1.