Bournemouth fraudsters made £14m on tree-planting investment scam
Three Ethical Forestry directors admitted fraudulent trading after the Bournemouth company took £70m from pension investors for Costa Rican tree plantations; prosecutors said the men took £14m.
Key takeaways
- 01Ethical Forestry took £70m from investors before collapsing in 2015; prosecutors said its three directors took £14m.
- 02Investors were sold Costa Rican tree plantations, but the court heard that maintenance and harvesting infrastructure were not funded.
- 03The BBC article covers the sentencing hearing, not final sentences.
Three directors of Bournemouth-based Ethical Forestry Ltd made £14m from a tree-planting investment scheme, according to a BBC report of their sentencing hearing at Southwark Crown Court. Matthew Pickard, Stephen Greenaway and Paul Laver had previously admitted fraudulent trading. The Serious Fraud Office said the company took £70m from investors before collapsing in 2015.
The business used a large call centre to persuade people to invest their pensions in tree plantations in Costa Rica. Some trees were planted, but prosecutors said the plantations were not maintained and harvesting infrastructure was not funded. A payment presented to early investors as proceeds from a thinning harvest was instead money from newer investors, the court heard.
Prosecutors said the directors extracted £14m through a tax-avoidance scheme and spent money on cars, holidays, watches and jewellery. The BBC reported that Greenaway bought 26 performance cars and Pickard paid £47,000 for a seven-night Swiss chalet stay. The article covers the opening of a sentencing hearing, not the eventual sentences.
Source attribution
Read original article on BBC News