"These
men are amongst the most arrogant, ruthless and destructive criminals the City
of London police have ever dealt with and deserve every day they will spend
behind bars," said Det Insp Kerrie Gower, who led the investigation.” -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23421571
Richard Pope, Paul Gunter and
Simon Odoni have been found guilty and jailed for what is considered one of the
biggest scams from the UK.
Their sentences total 43 years
imprisonment in the United States for their role within investment fraud. The
trio conned £80m out of British investors. This money was placed into a number
of US bank accounts and allowed them to continue living their lavish and
expensive lifestyles. The international criminal gang tricked at least 2,300
citizens from the UK.
The police described the men’s
scam operation as a chain of boiler rooms in Spain, who had hundreds of employees
which would cold called investors. They used pressurized and deceptive sales
techniques to trick them into purchasing shares that were worthless.
The majority of their victims
were professionals who had retired. Their losses range anything from a couple
of hundred pounds to £1m. Mark Goswami committed suicide after losing around
£200,000.
"How
could they be so arrogant to think they could get away with it, and have no
conscience about it, and just to destroy people's lives in this way, just for
money and just for sheer greed, and is it greed that's all that it's about -
they say money's the root of all evil and they are evil for what they've
done," the victim’s wife Andrea Goswami said. “-
"I'm never going to get my life back - the life I had with my husband, my
chances of a happy married life with my daughter - we were trying for another
child at the time, those hopes have been destroyed. Financially it's been
devastating and it's a struggle, it will continue to be a struggle because of
what they did."- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23421571
Mark Goswami’s money, along
with the other victim’s stolen money paid for a £350,000 personal aeroplane, 26
properties, a number of flash cars, speedboats and paid towards the expansion
of their criminal network.
This sentencing shows much
importance and closure to the seven year investigation which involved the work
from a number of law enforcement agencies ranging from Spain to Florida.
Back in 2004 the fraud began,
when Pope, 55, Gunter, 64 and Odoni, 56 possessed the identity of a number of
fraudulent companies based in the US. Fake stock was sold to unsuspecting
investors from call centres based in Spain.
The trio attempted to create a
false credibility for their ‘companies’ by producing brochures and webpages.
The seriousness and size of the case was realized in 2006 when the City of
London Police found connections between inquiries in the UK and investigations
of federal agencies within the US.
“
"The devastation and the impact that victims have suffered has been huge
and it's had drastic consequences to individuals lives - marriages breaking
down, selling of properties, individuals losing their businesses, having to
work again when they were about to go in to retirement," said Det Insp
Gower.”- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23421571
In March 2011 Richard Pope
pleaded guilty when arrested in Spain, to conspiracy to commit wired and mail
fraud between the years 2004 and 2008.
Pope testified against Odoni
and Gunter in March this year. Both these men were found guilty on three
counts. Including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud, 19 counts of
money laundering and 19 counts of mail and wire fraud. Originally, Gunter and
Pope had worked together in the UK in insurance.
Simon Odoni was sentenced to
13 years and 4 months, Paul Gunter was sentenced to 25 years and Richard Pope
was sentenced to 4 years and 9 months. Pope received a reduced sentence due to
his co-operation.
