Fraudsters jailed for pensions scam
They worked for a financial advisory firm registered in Cumbria
Two men, who worked for a company based in Cumbria, have been jailed after they conned people out of millions of pounds.
Simon Silva Peake, Drake Road, Grays, and Anton Taylor, of Windmill Drive, Cambridge worked for a business registered in Cumbria - Quintillion Asset Management.
An investigation by Cumbria Police, lasting six years, found the men used client's money to invest in an offshore fund - Kratos Enterprises - which they themselves were directors of.
In most cases they failed to declare the conflict of interest, given they were also directors of Quintillion. They also never asked their client's permission for the money to be invested in Kratos in the first place.
A lot of the money was peoples pensions, with investigators estimating the men stole nearly £2million over a three-year period.
The two also transferred money back into Quintillion, rather than investing it as promised, and use the funds to prop up the business as well as pay themselves huge salaries.
Detective Constable John Robinson of Cumbria Constabulary’s Serious Organised Crime Unit said: “This was an extremely complex investigation which identified many victims from across the country.
“The investigation focused specifically on the overseas Kratos fund as this was clearly a Ponzi fraud scheme.
“The directors simply stole client money from their pension funds, sent it overseas before returning it into the Quintillion bank account and used the money to prop up the UK business and pay themselves large salaries."
Anton Taylor was convicted of eight charges following a six-week trial which began in January of this year at Southwark Crown Court. He was sentenced to five years in prison.
Simon Silva Peake pleaded guilty of seven counts of fraud in 2022 and was sentenced to 30 months.