Conviction for £30 million serious fraud

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 20th, 2011 at 5:54 pm

The Serious Fraud Office has successfully prosecuted one of the men involved in a scam which duped 300 Americans and Canadians out of £30 million.

Richard Gunter received a five year sentence after he admitted ?dishonestly obtaining money? by luring investors into his fraudulent high-end whiskies and champagnes business.

The jury were unable to reach a decision on the case of another alleged participant, Robin Grove and the Serious Fraud office is not seeking a re-trial.

Investors had been promised a 50 per cent return over ten months for investing in champagne and as much as 110 per cent returns over three months from buying whisky.

However in reality the investors had been convinced into investing in a company that he Serious Fraud Office has now labelled a ?sham?.

Meanwhile the Serious Fraud Office in New Zealand has announced the importance of insolvency practitioners in the fight against corporate fraud.

The office?s chief executive said he believed the practitioners are the best placed out of all law enforcement agencies to assist in the fight against corporate fraud.

He believed the agencies’ strong links with businesses, widespread presence and strength in numbers made them best suited for exposing corporate fraud.

In the past year, the Serious Fraud Office has been greatly encouraged with the role of the insolvency practitioners in assisting it in detecting crimes.

While the office would like to think that corporate fraud wouldn?t continue, it also felt that the public could feel more heartened if the private and public sectors worked together.