Police have seized more than £2 million from crooks who ran landbanking scams ripping off elderly investors — including duping a 89-year-old blind man into investing £94,000 into ‘worthless’ land in Dumbarton.

Matthew Noad, 32, Clive Griston, 54, Harry Neal, 31, Kerry Golesworthy, 50, Linda Noad, 59, and Roger Noad, 62, were told last week they must repay £2.37m to the scams’ victims or face more time behind bars.

All, except Linda Noad who was given a two-year suspended sentence, are currently behind bars after being jailed following a court case last year.

Between 2005 and 2010 Matthew Noad and Griston ran a London-based boiler room, assisted by Neal, which took in more than £10 million from victims conned into believing they would make returns of several hundred percent from sites across the UK that were ripe for housing development.

In reality the land, located in Dumbarton as well as sites in Devon and Northampton had little or no value, with much of it situated in greenfield belts, flood zones, or areas of historical or environmental significance with no prospect of planning permission.

Despite being arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering, Matthew Noad and Griston set up another boiler room to sell valueless carbon credits, taking in another £1m.

Many investors were well into retirement with no ability to recoup their losses.

One of the victims was a blind 89-year-old man from Cardiff who was said to have paid £94,000 for plots of land in Dumbarton. He was told the area was primed for development when West Dunbartonshire Council had earmarked it as protected greenbelt land.

The cash seizure is one of the largest ever for City of London Police.

Detective Sergeant Mel Moody, from the City of London Police Asset Recovery Team, said: We are very pleased that our investigation has now concluded with this gang of investment fraudsters and money launderers being stripped of both their liberty and all the proceeds of their crime. We now look forward to returning the recovered funds to the rightful owners.”