A former X Factor contestant has been found guilty of laundering £20,000 from a £900,000 scam on the elderly.
Nathan Fagan-Gayle, 29, received the money in his bank account from 73-year-old Elizabeth Curtis, who was duped into handing it over by a fake police officer in May 2014.
The singer, known as Starboy Nathan, withdrew £15,000 and then filtered £5,000 via his mother's and girlfriend's accounts to give the impression of "fresh money", prosecutor Kevin Dent had said.
The jury heard he blew every penny on designer clothes at shops including Zara, shoes at Footlocker and on hiring a car in the US.
The singer-songwriter, who toured with JLS and counts Alesha Dixon among his musical collaborators, denied wrongdoing and claimed he thought the money was for a booking in Dubai from a man he met at Dstrkt nightclub in London.
He told the court he gave a friend money to look after for a trip to America, paid off a debt on a Mercedes lease to Port Vale footballer Anthony Grant, and gave his girlfriend money as a "romantic" gesture.
He told jurors: "I wanted to show off a bit. Show her I am doing it for myself. Send her some money. At the time I was like 'What's mine is yours, innit'. I was just trying to be romantic."
But a jury at the Old Bailey rejected his explanation and he will be sentenced with a number of other young men who have previously been convicted of their part in the wider £900,000 fraud.
The jury was not told that the con was uncovered by the Met's Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) after a separate terror probe found suspicious payments into a bank account of someone who is now believed to be in Syria.
The fraudsters targeted elderly people aged between 72 and 94 years old from Dorset, Cornwall, Kent, London, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.
Miss Curtis, who was one of the victims, was persuaded to transfer around £130,000 to different accounts.
Fagan-Gale, of Storehouse Mews, Tower Hamlets, said he signed up to Sir Richard Branson's V2 at the age of 17 and produced his first single Come Into My Room.
He toured with the likes of JLS, The Wanted and N-Dubz and also worked on song writing with pop star Alesha Dixon, he said.
In 2008, Fagan-Gale received £7,500 for a two-week turn in Celebrity Big Brother and in 2012, he made it on to X Factor but was ejected before the live shows.
Last December, Mohamed Dahir, 23, Shakaria Aden, 22, and Yasser Abukar, 24, from north London, were found guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud between May 2014 and May 2015.
Mohammed Abokar, 28, from Islington, was found guilty of converting criminal property - £9,000 belonging to Nanette Goldthorpe - on or around January 29 2015.
Six more defendants have pleaded guilty to their part in the fraud - either as conspirators or money launderers.
Fagan-Gayle was granted conditional bail until his sentencing on a date to be fixed.
Additional reporting by Press Association.
