West Yorkshire pension fraudsters jailed over 'elaborate' £3.7m scam
The pair have been handed a combined 16 years behind bars
Two men have been jailed for their roles in an elaborate £3.7million pension fraud, operating from West Yorkshire.
Mohammed Bashforth, 62, formerly of Wakefield and now of Spen Lane, Gomersal, was sentenced to five years in prison, while Daniel Giles, 51, of Jacob Drive, Coventry, received an 11-year sentence.
Kevin Phelan, 62, of Omagh, Northern Ireland, has yet to be sentenced.
The fraud took place between 2013 and 2015 when the men used fake pension schemes, known as pension liberation, to convince 74 victims to transfer their pension savings into their control, with false promises of early tax-free access to funds and secure future investments.
Working from offices in Wakefield and Leeds, the trio employed a network of ‘introducers’ and crafted misleading marketing materials to persuade victims to transfer their pensions, often offering cash incentives.
However, not only were the investment schemes entirely fraudulent, they also led to £700,000 in evaded tax payments to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
Giles additionally admitted tax evasion charges relating to over £1m personal tax unpaid between April 2008 and April 2014.
Bashforth and Giles have been disqualified from being company directors for five and twelve years, respectively.
Ramona Senior, head of the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit, said:
“This was a complex and protracted investigation, but I am pleased that the jury were able to see that the intentions of those convicted were dishonest.
“Driven by greed, they sought access to pension holders’ cash and treated the funds they obtained as pots of money which they dipped into at will, with no intention to properly invest the funds or highlight the tax liabilities created.
“They had no care or concern as to the financial hardship this would cause victims.”
Bashforth operated the schemes devised by Giles and Phelan, with funds hidden behind a series of bogus transactions.
Between December 2013 and December 2014, 84 victims were persuaded to transfer their pensions, amounting to a total of £3,701,813.92.