Justice has been not been served after a fraud trial collapsed when the “expert” witness for the prosecution was shockingly found to have no qualifications or real experience.
Andrew Ager was put forward by the Crown Prosecution Service as an expert in the carbon credits market.
He was to testify in a case involving eight men who sold carbon credits for investment purposes.
More than 70 investors, mainly vulnerable pensioners, were cold-called and collectively lost £3.5m ($4.4m, €4m), according to media reports.
The defendants claimed they believed there was a viable market for carbon credits and that the value of the credits would rise.
Ager’s testimony was to be used to discredit this assertion.
Could not recall
But in an embarrassing twist, when cross-examined by a lawyer representing one of the defendants, Ager admitted that he had no academic qualifications whatsoever and could not remember what exams he had sat/passed in high school.
He admitted to not reading any books on carbon credits, despite asserting that he kept abreast of the market.
It also emerged that Ager’s witness statement had been cut and pasted from documents he had submitted to other trials.
Convictions at around 20 other trials in which he was an “expert witness” have now been called into question.
Double victims
In closing, judge Loraine-Smith said that only one of the investors had succeeded in getting their money back, reports the BBC.
“Those investors deserved a full and proper investigation of those allegations, and they have been badly let down.”
