A man who ran a Ponzi-style investment scam worth in excess of £70m ($88m, €82m) has been handed a jail sentence of 14 years.
City of London Police has now launched an appeal to track down Anthony Constantinou, who did not turn up to the later stages of his trial and is thought to be in Turkey or Dubai.
Constantinou ran Capital World Markets, which offered investors returns of 60% per year on allegedly risk-free foreign exchange markets.
He was jailed at Southwark Crown Court on 9 June, having been found guilty of seven charges including fraud by false representation, fraudulent trading and money laundering. He was also disqualified from being a director of a company for 25 years.
‘No regard for anyone but himself’
Detective Inspector Nichola Meghji, of the City of London Police, said: “Anthony Constantinou is a career criminal who has no regard for anyone but himself.
“We are glad that he has now been jailed for such a significant period of time and we hope that his victims can take some comfort in knowing how seriously the judge has taken his crimes. The fact that the jury unanimously found him guilty after his trial also speaks volumes.
“The investigation by specialist fraud investigators into Constantinou has spanned a number of years. He has continued to lie and deny any wrongdoing throughout this investigation and following court proceedings.
‘Career criminal’
Meghji added: “While he initially attended court to hear the opening of his trial, Constantinou did not attend the later stages. Enquiries on his whereabouts revealed that he had fled his last known address in London, and he was last located in Bulgaria.
“That is why we are launching an appeal for information on Constantinou’s whereabouts so that he can be brought back to the UK to face the justice that has been served.
“Constantinou was arrested in Bulgaria last month while trying to enter Turkey while in possession of false documents. He was later released and officers believe he is now either in Turkey or Dubai, but he also has family connections to Greece and Cyprus.
“As a career criminal, he has access to documents and money under other names. It is not known what name he is currently travelling on or being known as, but we do know he also uses the aliases of Antonis Hadjicostis and Georgios Arnaoutakis.
“It is also vitally important that people come forward with information as Constantinou was previously convicted of sexual assault in 2016 and by absconding from the UK, he is now in breach of his sexual offences harm order.”
Meghji also said that an international arrest warrant has been issued for Constantinou’s arrest.
Investment fraud arrest in Ireland
Elsewhere, a man in his 60s has been arrested in relation to a €1.2m (£1.03m, $1.3m) investment fraud investigation in Ireland.
The Garda National Economic Crime Bureau made the arrest in Mayo in connection to an ongoing investigation into deception.
Gardaí are investigating over 65 complaints made by people who were deceived and lost approximately €1.2m in total, between 2016 and 2022.
The man is currently being held at a garda station in Mayo and investigations are ongoing.
