SFO fail to take action against developer while Austrian Banker frozen out

This entry was posted on Monday, November 28th, 2011 at 4:49 pm

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has announced that it will not take any further action against a Staffordshire developer who was allegedly involved in a multi-million pound overseas property scam.

The SFO investigated Colin Thomas, of Town Hall, Yoxall after his company Ocean View Properties collapsed. The Daily Mail previously revealed that Mr. Thomas was banned from being a company director for nine years.

The ban came after an Insolvency Service investigation showed that Mr. Thomas had taken almost £14 million from the company, despite it being insolvent. The findings also revealed that his company took £23 million from customers in connection to a Spanish development that it did not own nor had a building licence for.

However, a joint statement by the SFO and Staffordshire Police announced that due to the complexity of the case, there will be no criminal charges brought as a result of the inquiry. The news throws up questions concerning the SFO’s commitment to genuine victims of serious fraud.

Meanwhile, the UK’s High Court has issued a freezing order against the assets of Austrian banker Sonja Kohn. Kohn introduced clients to Bernard Madoff, the convicted fraudster responsible for corporate fraud in the largest Ponzi scheme in history.

Liquidators of the Madoff estate are pursuing Mrs. Kohn and directors of Madoff Securities International, which was the English company owned by Madoff, for the return of assets.

The High Court noted that Kohn introduced investors to Madoff before handing over billions of dollars through corporate investment funds or feeder funds. Kohn received tens of millions of dollars in return from Madoff companies though, in a blow to the liquidators, they will not be able to try Ms. Kohn in the UK because of jurisdiction issues.

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