By Martin Wainwright in The Guardian

“A debt-ridden man hatched an extraordinary plot to make over £1m from a stolen First Folio of Shakespeare's plays, a court heard today. Raymond Scott, who lived with his elderly mother in a County Durham cul-de-sac, created an "absurd" fake world involving an imaginary playboy lifestyle and a lost book hoard in Cuba, a jury at Newcastle crown court was told. Calling unannounced at one of the world's leading centres of Shakespeare studies in Washington DC, the 53-year-old pressed reticent academics to back his claim that the 387-year-old treasure was previously unknown, kept in a box by the mother of a major in Fidel Castro's army.”

Man created absurd world in plot to sell stolen Shakespeare folio, court hears - Martin Wainwright in The Guardian

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