Two men who ran a callous investment scam which saw some members of their family and friends lose £9 million in life savings and pensions have been jailed.
Andrew Bird and Christopher Walton carried out the fraud over the course of six years – taking huge sums from friends and family who they duped into investing hundreds of thousands of pounds – when in reality the money was never put into the investments and was used to pay back other investors to keep their scam running.
The pair met at Horsley Lodge Golf Club in 2005 when Bird was running the Anglo American Equities company. Walton, a former bank manager, had heard of Bird’s reported success in trading and investment and the two then joined forces.
From 2010 to 2016 they claimed to be investing the money on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) but in reality, a significant amount of the money was never invested at all.
Bird and Walton convinced friends and family, many elderly and vulnerable, of the returns they could expect and lied to them about the level of risk the investments could see – playing on the fact that Bird had never lost money trading.
Once investors had given them their money, they received documents designed to persuade them that their investment was doing well and encourage them to invest further. However, the documentation was falsified and the majority of the money that Bird and Walton took from people was not used to trade at all, but to pay other investors back and fund quarterly ‘returns’ payments in what is known as a Ponzi fraud.
The scheme collapsed in August 2016 after running out of new cash, with Bird and Walton having collected almost £9 million.
The investors knew and trusted the men, with some investing their life savings or pension funds into the schemes. Some even sold their homes so they had the money to invest in the fund, with many of the victims being elderly or vulnerable.
The matter came to light after the victims were told that all of their money had been lost.
In a victim impact statement, one of those who lost money said: “The investment was to help with my impending retirement.
“It upsets me as some of my relatives and friends had invested and this has changed their lives dramatically. So many other victims that I know have struggled to get by. We all put our faith in Chris, Andrew and the company.”
Another said: “The financial impact has been massive. We had worked very hard and saved this money over many years, intending to use it to help our children buy their own home and help with our retirement plans.
“There has also been the emotional toll of losing so much money leading to lots of anxiety and stress. We have also had to sell our family home. The financial loss of losing so much money is substantial but the emotional and psychological damage is equally significant.”
Bird and Walton were arrested and subsequently charged with fraud by false representation and carrying out a regulated activity whilst not authorised.
The pair were convicted of the offences in May following a trial at Nottingham Crown Court. They appeared at the same court for sentence on 1 August when Bird, 60, of Church Road, Quarndon, was jailed for eight years and Walton, 67, of Church Street, Kilburn, was jailed for five years.
Detective Sergeant Richard Foster, the officer in the case, said: ”Bird and Walton took huge sums of money from people under false pretences knowing that they would not see the return on their investment despite their promises.
“Many of the people they targeted were elderly or vulnerable and some lost their entire life savings or pension pots. As well as leaving them utterly devastated and out of pocket the emotional and mental impact this had on these victims cannot be underestimated.
“This was a long-running despicable and callous scheme operated by these two men which has ruined the lives of many families across Derbyshire.
“Bird was well-known as having success in terms of trading and Walton had previously been in a position of trust as a former bank manager so the victims had no reason to believe that anything they were being told was untrue – particularly when the information was coming from someone they knew well or were related to.
“I would like to praise the victims and their families in this case and thank them for their patience and co-operation through what has been a very lengthy process. With their help these two men have now been brought to justice for their appalling crimes and will be spending many years behind bars.
“While the prison sentence will not bring back the tens of thousands of pounds these people lost, we are now working towards a Proceeds of Crime Act case to recover the money Bird and Walton made.”
