Man accused of lying to claim reward for info on Martin O’Hagan murder at centre of new scam
Trail of debt: Locals tell how Martin Kingsberry had convinced them to hand over thousands for ‘investment’
We can reveal Michael Kingsberry — using the name Michael Schumacher — allegedly left a trail of debt in the east Yorkshire village of Howden.The 42-year-old, who’s due at Craigavon Magistrates Court next month to face a charge of fraud by false representation, was arrested in Sheffield ten days ago with the assistance of Counter Terrorism Policing North East and South Yorkshire Police.He was taken to Northern Ireland for questioning in the serious crime suite at Musgrave Police Station in Belfast.But we can reveal Kingsberry is persona non grata in parts of Yorkshire, where he has been living for several years now since it’s understood he had to flee Northern Ireland after he made unsubstantiated claims about infiltrating the LVF for the military.Martyn Smyth told the Sunday World he had given Michael Kingsberry thousands of pounds to invest but never saw a penny back — and he was not alone.His mum Sue Tracey posted photos of Kingsberry on Facebook in August 2019 after she became so angry he had taken £15,000 from her son.“Michael Kingsberry is an out-and-out conman,” the 51-year-old building contractor told us.“When we saw that he had been arrested it dragged up some unpleasant memories, to be honest, but we’re glad someone is taking him to task. What’s really strange is I was just talking about him with my mum a day before you called us to tell us he’d been arrested.Sue Tracey, whose friends lost thousands of pounds to Michael Kingsberry“I feel really embarrassed because I initially gave him £10,000 and then a week later I gave him another £5,000, which he said he was investing and we’d get a nice return quickly.“Looking back, I just can’t believe I did that — it’s not like me to be taken in so easily, but he was persistent and I had just sold a new-build house which I had built so I had some money to spare.“But he also targeted vulnerable people who had just come into money and couldn’t really afford to lose it. He took £25,000 from a man who lived across the street after he came into a bit of an inheritance and he took £10,000 from his best mate in the village who ran a wholesale business.”Martyn says it wasn’t long before they realised they weren’t getting their money back, and then Kingsberry vanished from the village.“The returns we were promised never materialised and I told him I wanted my money back — I was quite forceful about it. He sent me a screenshot of what looked like a payment from his account going back into mine but it never arrived and it seems he had the payment ‘pending’ and he just cancelled it once he’d sent me the screenshot.”Martyn says Michael was living with a woman in the village of Howden, which is situated close to the M62 between the major cities of Leeds and Hull.He says Kingsberry became well known in the village and despite his tall stories he was popular among the locals in the Workingman’s Club, where he would often be found having a pint.“I took him at face value because my mum knew him so I trusted him but he’s full of bulls**t,” says Martyn.“He was always smartly dressed — he’d wear a blazer and a good shirt and you’d think he had a few quid.“He was a larger-than-life character and he concocted some stories which left you thinking ‘that can’t be right’, but he seemed harmless enough.“He talked about being in the army but he also said he knew people in the IRA, so when he disappeared people were quite scared of him and didn’t want to push it too much — everyone believed he was this hardman ex-army guy who knew some dangerous people.Michael Kingbury“The police said there wasn’t anything they could do because we’d given him the money willingly.“For me it was just embarrassing. My pride was dented but nothing more serious than that — I just couldn’t believe I’d fallen for his nonsense.“My mum put the post up on Facebook to warn other people not to give him any money. The post has sat there for six years and occasionally my mum will get a call or a message from someone asking about Michael Kingsberry because he’s asked to borrow money or they’ve already handed some money over.”Sue Tracey — Martyn’s mum — told the Sunday World: “Michael told people he was helping to raise money for Help The Heroes and that he’d fought in the army — I’m sure he said Iraq — but his stories didn’t add up.“Him and his partner seemed like good fun and became well known in the village — you’d see him drinking champagne quite a lot and he gave off this image of being well-off.“He was a ducker and a diver — he told people he was a builder, but then he would be a painter or a gardener.“He told people he could double their money and they’d get quick returns and I know several local businessmen fell for it — I suppose it really was too good to be true.“When we realised there was nothing the police could do because people consented to giving their money to him, I decided to put that post up and hoped people would share it far and wide.“He disappeared from the area about three years ago but I’d still get contacted by people who had crossed his path and I’d just tell them to avoid him like the plague.”Earlier this week it was reported that the prosecution case against Kingsberry is that he’s a ‘Walter Mitty’ character who tried to claim a reward for information about the 2001 murder of Sunday World reporter Martin O’Hagan (51).Martin was shot by the LVF as he walked home with his wife Marie from a pub.The prosecution allege that Kingsberry is a fantasist who only briefly served in the army and was never a member of the LVF.He was so committed to the story that in March 2022, Kingsberry appeared in a BBC Spotlight investigation.He claimed that three days before the murder, he warned an army intelligence that Mr O’Hagan was going to be killed.He also claimed he was assured the attack would be stopped.Police told the O’Hagan family at the time that after accessing the former soldier’s army records that they believed he was lying.Sunday World reporter Martin O'HaganKingsberry had first approached Mr O’Hagan’s family in 2019.He claimed he had been working undercover for the army inside loyalist paramilitary organisations, including the LVF.Speaking on Spotlight in 2022, Kingsberry — whose identity was concealed — told the programme: “I reported who was going to carry out the hit; I also reported where the weapon was coming from; I also reported where the weapon was being hidden in that week and they assured me that they were going to stop it.”The BBC reported at the time that they asked the former soldier detailed questions over a number of months, and separately investigated his background — establishing that he was in the army but were unable to conclusively verify his serious allegation.Police believe the entire account was fabricated and that Kingsberry was a fantasist who was at first addicted to the attention he was receiving connected to the allegations and later tried to exploit the murdered journalist’s family for financial gain.Police fully investigated the claims and on Thursday moved to arrest the suspect.It’s alleged that the story was false and the army was able to provide proof that three patrols were in the area on the day of the killing at various times and locations.On Monday a statement issued on behalf of Mr O’Hagan’s siblings said: “Our engagement with Mr Kingsberry was always with a strong sense of critical awareness.“At no stage did we agree to pay, or actually pay, any reward to Mr Kingsberry.”
