Over the course of nearly two years the seven defendants sold shares in a UK-based bio-diesel company called Worldwide Bio Refineries (WBR), netting millions of pounds which were then transferred offshore into accounts in Spain, Jersey and Cyprus.
Six of the men were originally convicted by a jury of the £8m fraud on 12 September, with one pleading guilty on 6 June at the start of the case.
The seven men convicted included the two directors of WBR, Dennis Potter of Singapore and Redmond Johnson of Tyne and Wear in the UK. Potter was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment while Johnson, who pleaded guilty, was given a three year sentence.
In addition, both Potter and Johnson were disqualified from acting as company directors for 12 years.
The remaining defendants, who were responsible for running the boiler-room operation, received sentences of between five and six years. This includes Steven Murphy and Greg Pearson from Marbella and Paul Murphy, Lee Homan and Peter Bibby from the UK. Bibby, who absconded before the trial, was sentenced in absentia and there is currently a warrant out for his arrest.
In passing sentence, HHJ Overbury said: “This was a well planned, sophisticated, and well executed fraud dressed up in the language of legitimate business. It involved deliberate targeting of a particular group of investors. The Directors actions amount to a breach of trust of the investors. They had a long lasting effect on the victims who lost their savings.”
To read a detailed account of the fraud, please visit the Serious Fraud Office website.
