A CONMAN with a history of deception spanning more than a decade has resurfaced with a different name - but the same fondness for tall stories and forgeries, The Northern Echo can reveal.

Convicted North-East fraudster Mike Kenny - now know as Mike Nicholas - has been sacked as a sales director for a US company after bosses discovered he had invented a major contract with global sportswear company Nike.

The deal was one of several Mr Nicholas falsely claimed to have arranged, only for staff at digital publishing company, Nxtbook Media, to discover he had made them up.

Mr Nicholas also claimed to have won a prestigious award for his work in a previous job, only for his new employers to discover the firm and accolade were bogus.

The incident is the latest in a growing list of bizarre deceptions committed by the fraudster which date back more than a decade and have been repeatedly exposed by the Echo.

While living in Consett Mr Kenny, who previously lived in Newton Aycliffe, claimed to have opened a safe house for battered husbands which was later found to be a lie.

After moving to Darlington he incurred the wrath of Dragon's Den star Peter Jones by falsely claiming business links with the entrepreneur.

He later moved to West Yorkshire where he also used forged documents to convince a court he was suffering from cancer.

The conman fled to the North-West and changed his name to Mike Nicholas where he was hired by Nxtbook Media to run its Manchester office in October last year. However, staff soon became suspicious about the new employee.

Michael Biggerstaff, chief executive of the company, which is based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, flew to the UK this week to sort out the mess left behind by Mr kenny/Mr Nicholas, who was sacked last month.

He said the lies began to unravel when he claimed to have won a prestigious award for his work with a previous company.

Mr Biggerstaff said he would attend the ceremony at the Park Lane Hotel in London, however his enquiries later found that the event and award were fictitious.

Mr Nicholas later lied about the revenue generated by the UK branch, claiming the income was around four times higher than the genuine amount.

He claimed he had signed a large deal with Nike. When pressed about when the contract would begin, he submitted work for staff to produce which he claimed had come from the sportswear giant.

But Mr Biggerstaff said: "It was all fake - it was all just a big scam."

The chief executive has reported the incident to the police, although they said it was a civil matter.

"I'm not sure what his long-term plan was - he didn't steal from us or take any money, although we did pay him and he took up a lot of time and energy," Mr Biggerstaff added.

"It just seems he did these things for the glory.

"You never really expect these kind of things to happen to you or your company - I'm just astounded that someone like this who commits a crime is allowed to change his name."

A website - whomikenicholas.is - has been launched by an unknown person alerting members of the public about Mr Nicholas' past.

The Northern Echo has been unable to contact Mr Nicholas, whose last known address was in St Helens, Merseyside.

A decade of deception

2004: Mike Kenny, from Consett, appears on national television claiming to have set up the country's first refuge for male victims of domestic violence. However, an investigation by The Northern Echo reveals the refuge is fake. Mr Kenny's former girlfriend threatens him with over false allegations that she has been jailed for repeatedly stabbing him.

2005: Mr Kenny admits two charges of deception in connection with the fake refuge. He was given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £55 costs.

2011: The conman, now living in Darlington, is faced with legal action from Dragon's Den star Peter Jones after setting up a fake global business empire that claims to do business with the successful entrepreneur. A bogus company website states that Mr Kenny, who uses the name Mike Castellano-Kenny for the scam, was crowned 2008 Entrepreneur of the Year and is now helping the Government form its business policy.

2011: Kenny complains to the Press Complaints Commission about the Echo's expose of his fake business, however the watchdog drops its enquiry after the Echo proves that the fraudster has faked submitted documents as evidence.

2012: Police are urged to pursue the serial fraudster after Kenny uses forged documents to convince a court he is suffering from cancer, falsely claims an estate agent he owed money to assaulted him and produces more fake papers to secure leases on two flats before running up rent arrears.

2014: Mr Kenny, now known as Mike Nicholas after changing his name by deed poll in 2012, is hired by Nxtbook media, a US digital publishing company, to run their UK office in Manchester.

2015: The conman is sacked after bosses discover he has invented contracts, customers and a prestigious award he was due to collect later this year.