'Conman' Sussex academic exposed by new TV series (From The Argus)

'Conman' Sussex academic exposed by new TV series

9:32am Monday 12th October 2009 in News By Andy Chiles

A rogue academic who fled Britain after allegedly conning thousands of pounds from victims while based at Sussex University has now been exposed on TV.

The story of Erich Kofmel, first revealed by The Argus in August 2008, will be featured on the first in a new series of BBC One’s Inside Out.

The philosophy postgraduate was accused of leading a double life, working as an academic while running scams.

The investigation focuses on a scam he was believed to have operated while registered as a Sussex student.

He was alleged to have taken thousands of pounds from victims by selling holidays which never existed.

Kofmel was arrested by Sussex Police in the summer of 2008 on major fraud charges but never answered bail, fleeing the country and claiming he did not have the money to return.

New CCTV images have now been released showing the moment he went into a branch of Barclays in Durham and used bank cards to try to withdraw cash from the phoney accounts.

His victims said their financial loss was made worse by his callous attitude.

Sam Enthoven, a children’s author who booked an apartment for a trip to New York, said: “It’s the personal element of it, the fact we were communicating with him directly, on first-name terms.

“He probably feels very pleased with himself for being that bare-faced but it’s not right. It’s important people trust each other and this guy’s playing on that.”

During the scam Kofmel operated his own academic school, unaffiliated to the university, called the Sussex Centre for the Individual and Society, based at his home on the Falmer campus in Brighton.

He used it to gain recognition from other academics but it was struck off the register of businesses by Companies House in February for failing to submit accounts. Many of Kofmel’s contemporaries have disassociated themselves from him. He was thrown out of the university in August for bringing it into disrepute and he responded by describing the institution as a “cesspool of mediocrity”.

The programme attempted to track him down in his native Switzerland, where he is believed to be hiding after spending time in Paris. The programme will be screened tonight at 7.30pm.