When Stephen Coleman and his wife Joy moved to France in 2001 it was to enjoy a well-earned early retirement in a beautiful and tranquil part of the world.  They had bought a 17th century house, which they lovingly restored as they settled down to their new lives in the stunning countryside near Sarlat in south-west France.

Eight years later and that dream retirement has been shattered They still live in the same village. But instead of a beautiful renovated farmhouse the Colemans’ home is now a caravan in a field where they endure the bitter cold of winter and the heat of summer, dependent upon the generosity of a friend.

The reason for this dramatic reversal in their fortune can be put down to one man – Warren Templeton. This plausible conman fleeced the Colemans of their entire life savings of €450,000, forcing them to sell their house. ‘We have no money and no income,’ Stephen Coleman says bluntly. ‘We have been living here for just over a year. It’s a friend’s caravan and she doesn’t charge us any rent, otherwise we’d be in trouble,’ Coleman says with devastating understatement.

Tragically, the Colemans are not alone. On 8 June 54-year-old Templeton was jailed for two years by a court in Bordeaux after admitting fraud, falsifying papers and swindling money out of eight people, mostly British and American expatriates living in the Dordogne. These  victims lost €1,988,265 (£1.72m), but they are not the only ones - the police investigation uncovered 42 people who had been defrauded by the smooth-talking crook and the total sum involved could top €5million.

For an habitual conman such as Templeton, the two year sentence was, presumably, simply another occupational hazard to be set against the fraud-funded lifestyle he enjoyed, which bought him a château, sports cars, a yacht and a seemingly limitless supply of champagne. For his many victims, however, the jailing of this conman for just 24 months was yet another insult added onto the financial injuries they have suffered at his hands. They are now battling to get their money back, whether from Templeton or from the bank where the fraudster deposited their cash.

Joan Sarginson, aged 84, moved to the Dordogne from Kidderminster in 1998 with her husband Bill, aged 87, and together they lost £110,000. She says: ‘Two years is not enough. Everybody has suffered tremendously and had a lot of money taken from them. We’ve been waiting for years, two people [who lost money] have died, my husband who has got Parkinsons has become much more feeble.’ New Yorkers Jerry Shively, 80, and his wife Red, 75, lost the largest amount of money – €800,000 – to Templeton. They have been forced to put their house in the Dordogne on the market, though they are unable to sell in the recession.

Jerry Shively, former EMEA chairman of McCann Erickson advertising agency, describes the crook as a ‘mini Madoff, a reference to the disgraced American financier Bernard Madoff who was behind a £39.5 billion swindle. ‘We were taken in by a very smooth fraudster. He was very plausible, attractive looking, very sociable, and able to convince us all. In one instance he actually bought a classic car, a white convertible 1968 Mercedes for me – with my own money that I thought I had invested. ‘He was very clever, and I don’t think he ever intended to do anything other than exploit us. He would work among friends, one of us would introduce him to another, which lowered our suspicions as we knew other friends had already invested.’

As for the Colemans, they had been introduced to the self-styled financial consultant – who among his boasts claimed that he resembled the actor Hugh Grant – three years before they moved to the Dordogne, by friends living in south-west France. ‘He kept in touch and told us he may be able to help with our finances,’ says Stephen Coleman, 54, originally from Kent in south-east England. ‘When we sold our business and home to move to the Dordogne he advised us on investments. At first the investments were genuine.’

But as Templeton gained the Colemans’ trust, he began banking their money – amounting to their entire life savings of €450,000 – in his own personal bank account. Instead of securing the Colemans’ retirement, the money funded Templeton’s champagne and yacht lifestyle. He bought a château in the village of Coux-et-Bigarroque and a vintage car collection, including a Mercedes he claimed was once owned by Marilyn Monroe, an Aston Martin DB7 and a Jaguar XK120. His purchases were made with money he swindled from his victims between 2001 and 2004, many of whom were pensioners who introduced him to their friends in the area.

Coleman says: ‘He was our financial adviser. He came across as being extremely genuine: the [investment] funds existed, it’s just he didn’t invest in them. He came to our wedding, even offering to supply a car for my wife. ‘But he wasn’t the sort of person we socialised with, he was too flashy. He appeared to splash his money, drinking vast quantities of champagne. We were never in a position to blow money on stupid things. We weren’t wealthy. Then he disappeared in Christmas 2004.’

To read the full article and profile buy the July issue of theFrenchPaper.