Fraudster who used AI to fake £154 million oil company takeover bid spared jail

A fraudster who turned to artificial intelligence in a "foolish" attempt to fabricate a £154 million takeover of an oil and gas company to pay off personal debts has been spared jail.

Christopher Woolcott, 44, created fictitious personas and manufactured paperwork while pretending to organise a takeover bid for Touchstone Exploration, a firm based in Canada and listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Having previously purchased shares in Touchstone, Woolcott was positioned to make roughly £70,000 had news of the fake deal been announced or leaked online.

To generate fake documentation purportedly from a bank, a law firm, and a private equity business, he employed ChatGPT, while downloading corporate logos directly from Google.

Southwark Crown Court heard that the papers, which he posted from a branch of Ryman stationers in Blackheath, south-east London, contained obvious mistakes, prompting immediate suspicion from Touchstone executives who viewed the offer as "too good to be true".

Despite this, Woolcott went so far as to meet Touchstone chief executive Paul Baay in person at the May Fair Hotel in London, adopting an American accent while masquerading as an agent for the supposed prospective buyers.

He also shared details of the alleged takeover on the social platform Discord to drive up the value of the firm's shares.

Woolcott pleaded guilty to fraud and three counts of making a false instrument. At sentencing on Tuesday, Judge Usha Karu handed him a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years.

Describing his actions, the judge noted the father-of-two had orchestrated a "deliberate and sustained scheme" designed to "hoodwink" Touchstone.

"You knew full well what you were doing," the judge told him, noting that psychological evaluations before sentencing revealed Woolcott admitted he had "found it exciting to pretend to be a different character".

Alongside the suspended sentence, Woolcott was ordered to carry out 200 hours of community service and pay £4,627 towards prosecution costs.

Defending Woolcott, barrister Mark Stevens stated that company directors rapidly identified the takeover papers as "surprisingly amateurish", noting it was easy to spot that the aliases used were fake.

He said Woolcott had faced "difficulties with HMRC dating back several years, and instead of seeking the assistance of friends and family he buried his head somewhat in the sand".

Mr Stevens added: "He decided to recoup losses made through Touchstone shares by entering into this foolish enterprise."

Prosecutor Denis Barry told the court that when questioned by Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) investigators in February, Woolcott admitted a "dishonest attempt to manipulate the share price of Touchstone Exploration Inc".

Detailing the operation, Mr Barry said: "Mr Woolcott staged a fake takeover offer for the company, impersonating the buyers and their professional advisers, and submitted forged documents in an attempt to artificially increase the value of his existing shareholding."

The court heard that between May and November 2024, Woolcott had bought shares in Touchstone under his own name as well as those of his wife and son, with a total value of just under £70,000.

Had his plot succeeded, the value of those shares was likely to double.

Woolcott, who worked for a construction firm, initially reached out to Touchstone under the name "Simon Jones" from private equity firm Griffon Partners, using an AOL email address and claiming his business account was temporarily compromised by malware.

Using that email address and a mobile phone bought near his workplace, Woolcott joined a Touchstone investor discussion group on Discord where he intended to leak news of the proposed deal.

He composed a bid letter outlining a £154 million deal – double the firm's actual value – and produced a fake HSBC letter claiming there was £217 million on account alongside a £100 million credit facility.

To back the bid, he also produced a forged letter attributed to "Marcus Allen", a fake solicitor at real law firm RSW Law.

Questioned by the FCA, Woolcott admitted "using ChatGPT for document templates and guidance, downloading logos from Google, and signing documents with improvised signatures, and that he had printed them and mailed them in Blackheath", said Mr Barry.

The prosecutor added that Mr Baay "felt the price being offered was in the ‘too good to be true’ category because it was a cash offer at almost double the current share price".

With the company already investigating the proposal and aware of multiple "red flags", Mr Baay agreed to attend a meeting at the May Fair Hotel with Woolcott, who was posing as a representative of the primary bidder.

Woolcott operated under the alias "Greg Thomas" during the meeting, claimed his client was currently skiing in Switzerland, and put on a "Boston drawl" accent.

The court heard he actively pushed during the meeting for the Touchstone board to issue a public announcement confirming the takeover.

Mr Baay later identified Woolcott in an official line-up as the man he had met at the hotel. Woolcott, from Blackheath, south-east London, initially refused to provide security codes for phones seized from his home.

However, in an FCA interview, he admitted being behind the fraud, creating false identities, and forging documents.