Finance expert locked up after conning his way to life of luxury

A man who carried out a Pounds 2 million fraud to fuel a luxurylifestyle has been jailed for three years.

Paul Wood altered the time on his fax machine in a techniquecompared to "placing a bet after the race was run".

It was developed after he spotted a loophole in the system usedby financial firm Friends Provident to process clients'instructions. The 48-year-old systematically abused the knowledge hehad come across by chance to boost the funds in a bond he held.

The two-year fraud funded Wood's high-spending lifestyle whichincluded a Wiltshire farmhouse and a luxury holiday home in theFrench Alps.

But staff at the company eventually realised something …