Criminal ring jailed for £5m investment fraud
LENGTHY prison sentences have been handed to the members of a Yorkshire-based collective accused of fraud and money laundering.
The “callous and arrogant” men were sentenced at Leeds Crown Court last week for fraud totalling £5m.
Multiple fraudulent schemes were uncovered during investigations into the men who were “masquerading” as businessmen, according to police.
The first centred around land investment, mainly in Panama, to investors through a property investment club.
Ringleader Keith Wharton promised investors that the land would double in value over a 12-month period at which point it would be sold for big returns. Investors paid into accounts controlled by Wharton’s son, Lee Wharton.
Investigators found that in the first three years, £2.4m had been conned from around thirty investors despite no land ever being acquired.
Following this, Wharton conned a North Yorkshire businessman out of £1m with a fraudulent bond trading scheme. For his next scheme he enlisted the help of Leeds lawyer Stephen Pickard and tax specialist Simon Kippax to help recruit investors and provide credibility to the scheme.
Between early 2010 and August 2010 around a dozen investors put £1.7m into this scheme, and a further £500,000 into another launched in 2011.
The group reportedly spent their ill-gotten gains on luxury yachts and high performance sports cars, making bespoke improvements to a Leeds city centre apartment including a £35,000 sound and TV system.
North Yorkshire Police’s Major Fraud Investigation Team and the Financial Investigation Unit undertook a major investigation after the arrests of Keith and Lee Wharton in 2011. Pickard and Kippax were soon brought in for questioning and the trial of the group started in June 2016.
Keith Wharton faced five counts of fraud and one of obtaining money by false representation. He was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment. Lee Wharton, 34, of Leeds was convicted of money laundering and received seven years imprisonment.
Stephen Pickard, 56 from Harrogate, was sentenced to eight years for fraud and money laundering. The Solicitors Regulation Authority also investigated him and in September 2016 banned him from any work relating to investment schemes.
Simon Kippax, 52, also from Harrogate, got seven years for fraud and a regulatory offence.
Police said those that had lost money in the scheme were faced with “devastating consequences”. The money lost was their life savings or equity released from their homes and many have been left in severe financial difficulty and suffering mental health problems.
DI Jon Hodgeon, Head of Fraud and Economic Crime for North Yorkshire Police, said: “These sentences are a fantastic result for North Yorkshire Police. These calculated, callous and arrogant men spent years defrauding innocent victims of millions of pounds and I am satisfied justice has been done.
“Fraudsters like the Whartons, Pickard and Kippax are greedy criminals who masquerade as businessmen, and they are now where they belong – behind bars.
“This should serve as a stern warning to anyone out there who thinks they can get away with fraud. You can’t. We are watching you and we will find you and put you before the courts.”
