A FLASHY fraudster was jailed yesterday for a baby scam he set up to fund his champagne lifestyle.
Benefits cheat Rory McWhirter, 29, raked in a fortune by touring the country in his Beemer to register the births of dozens of non-existent tots.
But we can reveal the wannabe playboy only turned to crime after blowing £100,000 of his dad’s cash on a failed nightclub venture.
And last night a source said the crook had been more concerned about enjoying the high life than running trendy Edinburgh boozer Hyde Out — which he boasted he’d invested £1million in.
Our informant — one of many suppliers left high and dry when McWhirter’s business went bust — said: “Rory was a clown.
He had a prime spot, 100 grand from his old man, and every chance to make a success of it.
“He spent a small fortune fitting out the venue with designer furniture.
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“But he made an a*** of running it and seemed more interested in partying and being flash than in turning a profit.
“The place closed with a string of debts and his dad was left to pick up the pieces.” Hyde Out was marketed as “cool and luxurious”.
It boasted a crystal chandelier plus bespoke vinyl wallpaper.
At its launch, McWhirter claimed: “We wanted to get people talking and the exclusive design features have definitely done that.”
Much of the start-up cash came from his 60-year-old dad Alan’s firm Rowan Hill. But the company behind Hyde Out lost £175,000 in two years and the nightspot shut in 2010.
Liquidators were called in three years ago before McWhirter’s firm, LA White, was dissolved this January — with 42 creditors owed £163,000.
The desperate businessman then hit on a new get-rich-quick scheme.
Last month we told how he used a fake online ad to harvest personal details of unsuspecting couples then used their IDs to register fake births.
He falsely claimed to be the dad of 26 new babies before pocketing over £34,000 in benefits.
But he was nabbed when registry staff spotted him using different names — and his luxury BMW Z4 sports car helped cops track him down.
He was living with girlfriend Kiyo Adya in Dundee. The paediatric doc had all charges against her dropped at the city’s sheriff court.
But McWhirter was locked up for two years and four months.
Sheriff Alastair Carmichael said: “This was an attack on the public purse, the integrity of the system of births, deaths and marriages and an attack on the benefits system.”
Among those whose ID and baby details were nicked was mum-of-four Samantha Bruce, 31, of Dundee.
She said: “After all the stress and worry he put me through the prison sentence is not enough. What he got up to is absolutely shocking.”
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