The North-East mastermind of an international fraud is planning a bid for freedom - less than a week after he was jailed for six years.

George Steen's legal team are preparing to appeal against his conviction, which came at the end of a lengthy trial in London. His solicitor Peter Krivinskas last night confirmed he will be travelling to see Steen in prison on Thursday to discuss details of the legal challenge.

Darlington loan shark Steen was jailed along with his East Sussex agents David Andrews and Dennis Alexander after a jury at Southwark Crown Court found them guilty of one charge of conspiring to defraud.

Andrews, 38, was jailed for five years, and Alexander, 47, for two years.

Trial judge Andrew Goyer described Steen as "the main culprit" and branded the gang "ruthless, cynical, greedy fraudsters". Manchester-based Mr Krivinskas said: "The grounds of appeal are still being formulated, but will probably be on the basis of the summing up and the manner in which the judge dealt with the trial.

"The papers should be prepared within the next two or three weeks and will go to a judge at the Court of Appeal." Steen, 54, of Geneva Road, pocketed nearly £1.5m from the fraud which involved his gang persuading victims to part with large up-front "admin fees" for bogus loans between 1996 and 1999.

He led an affluent lifestyle from the proceeds, and spent six months of the year at one of his three luxury homes in the Philippines.

The court heard how the gang snared victims in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand by offering unbeatable rates on multi-million pound loans.

After forking out thousands of pounds in administration fees, they were told to come up with a bond amounting to 40 per cent of the loan value.

When they complained they did not have that sort of cash, they were told they should have read the small print and the gang kept the money they had already received.

Steen, who fled to the Philippines towards the end of the trial, was found guilty in his absence and brought back to Britain last Friday morning - hours before he was sentenced.