The serious fraud office (SFO) investigation revealed that around £10m was supposed to have been invested for high growth on the US stock market but none of it was invested. Instead, the SFO stated, much of this money paid for the fraudsters’ lavish spending.
Former insurance and pensions adviser John Hurst, 61, of West Yorkshire, was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment. Richard Pollett, 71, a former chartered accountant and financial consultant in Majorca, was jailed for six and a half years, and Linda Hirst, 64, of Surrey, got a two and a half year term.
The company they used for the investment fraud was Gilher Inc, registered by John Hirst in the Seychelles with its bank accounts in Cyprus, according to the SFO: “It was supposedly an investment business but its purpose from the start was to defraud investors. They were mostly drawn from the British expatriate community in Majorca but residents in the UK were also drawn into the scam.”
The SFO added: “The fraud relied very much on introductions where members of same club, family or circle of friends were brought into contact with Gilher Inc and exposed to its promotional hype.”
The crimes prosecuted occurred between 2001 and 2009.
