He dealt in stationery, lingerie, plasma televisions and vacuum cleaners, and earned thousands. He took out advertisements in newspapers and magazines, and could have been taken for a budding tycoon.

But it was all an elaborate fraud. The managing director of a string of international companies – including Worldwide Stationery and Finest Lingerie Online – was nothing of the kind; he was a teenager, and some of his biggest deals were conducted while he was already on bail.

Yesterday, at Balham Youth Court in South London, the boy, now aged 16, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was given a 12-month detention order, and will no longer be unable to hire chauffeur-driven cars, employ staff, or sell bogus goods over the internet.

The case was reminiscent of the character played by Leonardo Di Caprio in the film Catch Me If You Can, in which a teenage con artist enjoys a lavish lifestyle posing as an airline pilot, doctor and lawyer.

South London’s equivalent, the court was told, had begun his fradulent activities when he was only 13, selling items including stationery on an internet auction site but never delivering them. He also bought but did not pay for items through one of his companies.

He was arrested twice, bailed and was finally charged early this year. He continued his fraudulent activities while on bail. Yesterday he pleaded guilty to 16 charges of obtaining property and services by deception, and asked for another 105 to be taken into consideration.

He was remanded in custody in May when it emerged that he had placed a full-page advertisement for lingerie in Elle magazine, and had bought advertising space in national newspapers. He took customers’ money but failed to deliver any goods, claiming that he had been swamped with orders. Staff were hired, only to discover that their salaries had not been paid.

Kate Handley, for the prosecution, told the court: “While you might not think that this is a particularly sophisticated offence, the fact that so many people were taken in and deceived by him, and the fact that he managed to keep ahead – employing other people, continuing to instruct other people, creating webpages and keeping up the façade of a successful businessman – indicates an element of planning.”

Claire Bruce, for the defence, said that the boy’s life of fraud had begun after the death of his mother, when he moved in with his grandmother but did not attend school.The boy is estimated to have amassed about £50,000 from the frauds to which he pleaded guilty, and an unknown amount from more than 100 other scams.

Times Recommends

• Time-worn Freddie gives up Test matches
• Brighton company 'involved in cyber attack'
• The art of survival: it’s all in the mind