Fake vicar stole £90,000 in European grants after gaining clerical title from U.S. website George Gordon called himself 'The Reverend' and wore a dog collar But the 52-year-old was a serial conman and convicted fraudster He set up bogus groups to apply for £90,000 in European grants Cash was meant for some of Merseyside's most vulnerable people To his 'parishioners' George Gordon appeared a genuine man of the cloth. Calling himself 'The Reverend', he wore a dog collar and boasted of Cambridge University degrees. The 52-year-old claimed he suffered from manic depression and cancer, and volunteered to help charities for victims of mental health problems. In reality, he was a serial conman and convicted fraudster, who bought his clerical title online and was only dedicated to helping himself. Fake vicar George Gordon was sentenced to five years jail after being found guilty of nine counts of obtaining money by deception and 11 counts of fraud Over a period of almost three years, he used the name of genuine charities and set up several bogus groups to apply for £90,000 in European grants, meant for some of the most vulnerable people on Merseyside. He falsified signatures, set up bank accounts and sent bogus emails, before siphoning off the cash into his own account. The jobless conman, who lived on benefits, blew the money on high living and buying his own apartment, before his scam was uncovered in June 2008. After being interviewed by police, he went on the run for almost three years until he was tracked down. Police discovered he had never studied at university or qualified as a vicar. Instead he had acquired his clerical title for free on an internet site based in the America, called the Universal Life Church Monastery. Yesterday Gordon, from Liverpool, was jailed for five years after pleading guilty to nine counts of obtaining money by deception and 11 counts of fraud. Six other charges were ordered to lie on file. George Gordon arrives at Liverpool Crown Court accused of pocketing thousands of pounds by accessing European grant funding meant to help victims of mental illness, depression and sexual abuse Judge Stephen Everett told him his 'disgusting behaviour' undermined the good work of genuine charities. He added: 'The counts relate to a callous set of offences of dishonesty, the audacity of which genuinely takes the breath away.' Liverpool Crown Court heard Gordon, whose previous convictions for theft and fraud date as far as 1988, started his latest scam less than four years after being released from a four year jail term for an almost identical offence. The court heard he applied for grants from the Merseyside Disability Federation, which supports the development of organisations for the disabled. From February 2005 to October 2007 he applied for 18 grants of £5,000 from the MDF. He became so adept at his deception that he even talked his way onto the board of the MDF, allowing him to authorise grants. In total £67,000 of the cash was transferred to his own bank account or used to pay his mortgage. Rowena Goode, prosecuting, said: 'Although the prime loser was the MDF, most of the people duped into assisting the defendant themselves suffered from mental health problems.'