David Gerald Dixon ran the scheme through his two companies, Arboretum Sports (USA) and Arboretum Sports (UK), convincing his victims to invest in a no-risk gambling syndicate which he claimed had the potential for huge rates of return.
But in reality, the scheme was a sham, and between 2004 and 2010 money from new investors was being used to fund the “returns”.
When his UK business went into liquidation in 2007, Dixon fled the country, only to be arrested by the Royal Malaysian Police seven years later and extradited to the UK.
“First of its kind”
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said Dixon’s extradition from Malaysia to the UK was the first of its kind.
Both the SFO and Hampshire Police said they are grateful to the Royal Malaysian Police and the Attorney General’s Chambers in Malaysia for assisting with the request.
Dixon pleaded guilty to 13 offences today and is due to be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on 22 April 2015.
“By entering a guilty plea, Dixon recognised the strength of the case that the SFO and our colleagues in Hampshire Police had built against him,” said the SFO’s general counsel Alun Milford in a statement.
He had previously been convicted of setting up a £1m scam involving several victims between 1988 and 1997, and had been sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison in 1998.
Earlier this month, a former IFA was jailed for 10 years after running a £3.5m Ponzi scheme to fund his extravagant lifestyle.
