Smooth conman used fantasy characters to scam victims Pleaded guilty ... Joshua Peter McIntosh was arrested late last year after an 18-month interstate slew of scams. Photo: www.facebook.com AFTER carrying off elaborate cons posing as a V8 Supercar driver, a high-powered construction executive and more, Joshua Peter McIntosh was on the run across the country. In Brisbane he panicked, afraid the police were on to his latest scam, fleeing in an allegedly stolen BMW. McIntosh, 43, made a run for it through country Queensland and the backblocks of NSW, driving more than 2000kilometres and looking to start all over again in Adelaide. Those hopes proved shortlived. McIntosh's arrest late last year ended an 18-month slew of scams and frauds in which he fleeced at least 20 victims of cash, luxury cars, appliances, furniture and months of accommodation in top-end rental properties. Along the way he had adopted various fantasy characters, posing as a bar owner, car racer, wealthy businessman and entrepreneur, running cons in some of the wealthiest areas of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The conman who has been described as a man with the ""airs, graces and trappings of a person of substance"," proved smooth enough to talk one shop manager out of $5000 in cash and fool experienced estate agents into handing over keys to million-dollar properties for him to lease. His ""gift of the gab"" even allowed him to walk out of a St Kilda tattoo parlour on a promise to pay for the work, which was only partially completed. Pleading bank errors or a death in the family, McIntosh would stall estate agents for weeks until eventually being evicted or locked out. Unpaid rent bills total more than $44,000 in NSW and Victoria. McIntosh reportedly often turned up at leased properties with only a few suitcases of clothes, a metre-high statue of Buddha and a bulldog. ""The way he had his clothes and personal belongings in the house was just OCD. Immaculately set out, like an obsessive compulsive type of thing with his socks and undies, designer jeans and clothes hung out but all colour coded,"" said North Curl Curl landlord Jamie Howieson, who locked McIntosh out of his property after losing $8000 in rent. Last year, Fairfax Media exposed a rental scam McIntosh ran on landlords in Melbourne's bayside suburbs, where fake electronic payments were used to lease $1000 to $2000-a-week properties. A similar scam was run on at least 10 short-stay accommodation providers in three states, with operators losing more than $20,500. Faked electronic transfers were also allegedly used as down payments at luxury car dealerships, with McIntosh leveraging the ""pending"" sale to get access to vehicles that he drove for weeks. Victims of his scams say McIntosh was seen at various times driving different model BMW and Mercedes, as well as a Range Rover, Ford Territory, and Holden Commodore. Debt collectors and store owners are also believed to be chasing McIntosh for potentially tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid utility and phone bills, as well as for goods that were taken on credit but not paid for. One landlord said NSW Police seized several high-end appliances belonging to stores in Victoria, stashed in a property McIntosh had scammed access to near Sydney. Others have been disturbed by McIntosh's willingness to use his adolescent son as part of his cover when staging scams. ""Josh took his son through the property and his son picked a room. After I found out what happened - what he was like - I felt sick that you could do that with your kid,"" said the manager of a $2million Melbourne property, who evicted McIntosh after he faked a payment on the bond and rent. The owner of a collectables shop in Brighton said McIntosh also had his son pick out a series of expensive remote-controlled cars, which he attempted to take on credit. Last week, McIntosh pleaded guilty in South Australia to several outstanding charges relating to property offences and a bail violation. He was jailed for nine months. The Magistrates Court heard McIntosh was apprehended by police while in Adelaide to visit his son. He will appear again in a South Australian court this month over charges relating to the alleged theft of the BMW on the Gold Coast. Victoria Police have received at least 10 complaints about his activities, and several other incidents are under investigation in NSW and Queensland. But victims say police indifference allowed McIntosh to operate for more than six months in Melbourne despite authorities receiving multiple complaints and even being offered chances to corner him. McIntosh has subsequently been linked to at least 10 other alleged scams in Victoria and interstate over the following nine months. At the time of the alleged incidents in 2011 and 2012, McIntosh, who has a record of convictions for dishonesty offences in several states, was already wanted in South Australia on charges relating to dishonesty offences and a bail violation. Victoria Police said detectives were investigating a series of alleged financial advantage by deception offences.