A pair of bogus pension advisers who plundered £1 million from the retirement savings of clients with an elaborate scam have been jailed.
Anthony Locke, 33, and his employee Ray King, 54, tricked financial providers like Virgin Money and Friends Life into transferring thousands of pounds into their bank.
They duped them with false documents claiming they ran an occupational pension scheme.
The companies then transferred money to them on behalf of customers tricked into joining a pension liberation scheme.
Customers were told they could take half their pension savings as cash before the age of 55, while the rest would be invested on their behalf.
But the investments were never made.
Luxury cars
Instead Locke and King spent the money on a lavish lifestyle, including the £230,000 purchase of two Audi cars, a Mercedes, Aston Martin, Porsche and a Lamborghini Gallardo.
Anthony Locke, of Christchurch, Dorset, was found guilty of 23 counts of fraud by false representation and three counts of money laundering. Ray King, 54 and of Poole, Dorset, was convicted of 14 counts of fraud by false representation at Southwark Crown Court, London.
Locke was jailed for five years and King was sent to prison for three years.
The court heard the pair misled 16 victims into transferring their pension pots worth £971,530 into their scheme.
Sophisticated fraud
Investigating officer Paul Sullivan, of Dorset Police, said: “Locke was the architect of a callous and sophisticated fraud with King as his employee. Between September 2013 and April 2014 Locke obtained almost £1 million from various pension companies, which represented the pension pots of the victims in this case.
“Locke then credited approximately half these funds to the victims who had joined his non-existent occupational pension scheme, telling them that the other half would be invested. However, there was no investment and by far the lion’s share of these funds was retained by Locke who spent the money on expensive cars and general living expenses.
“Not only have the victims lost half their pensions but now may face financial penalties from HM Revenue and Customs who will want to recover the lost tax revenue.”
