Investing
Five fraudsters jailed for multi-million pound boiler room fraud
A criminal gang behind a multi-million pound boiler room fraud targeted vulnerable people over the phone, in their local pubs and even pitched up at an England cricket match.
The criminals, named below, were jailed at Southwark Crown Court today for a total of 20 years. The men were convicted of running an operation that conned at least 600 investors out of approximately £5m..
City of London Police uncovered the network of ‘investment brokers’ pressurising people into buying worthless shares in a clone company of World Aqua Tech International, along with European Land Development Agency, Art IT and Mediatel.
DI Matt Bradford, from the City of London Police said: “This gang went to great lengths to secure a deal, bombarding hundreds of elderly and vulnerable people with phone calls and even turning up at an England cricket match in the pursuit of peddling yet more of their worthless shares.
Investors were told the companies were about to float on the stock market, guaranteeing them a substantial return on their money.
Victims then received a contract note, detailing the number and price of shares they had agreed to purchase and information about how they should make their payment. Once the money had been transferred all communication ended.
One investor who was directly approached at Lords cricket ground ended up losing £1m, with fraudsters going as far as collecting cheques from him in person.
DI Bradford added: “It took a forensic investigation to unravel the networks and systems that facilitated this fraud and expose the men responsible, with the result sending out a clear warning to anyone thinking of setting up their own boiler room fraud in the UK.”
• Hugh Rodley, 65, from Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, was convicted of two counts of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering and was sentenced to seven years.
• Phillip Dennett, 41, from Warrington, Cheshire, was convicted of money laundering and found not guilty of conspiracy to defraud was sentenced to 12 months.
• Julian Silver, 43, from Kent, was convicted of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering and was sentenced to four years.
• Sonny Willis, 28, from Essex, was convicted of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering and was sentenced to five years.
• Adam Corbett (pictured), 31, from Camberley, Surrey, was convicted of money laundering and conspiracy to defraud and was sentenced to three years.
