Men sentenced for £1m boiler room fraud

At Woolwich Crown Court 27 year old Martyn Jagger of Kent was sentenced to three and a half years in prison, whilst his accomplice, 24 year old Daniel Healy of Enfield, North London, received an 18 month prison sentence.
 
The pair operated a boiler room scheme from abroad, selling worthless company shares to victims described as “elderly and vulnerable”. Some lost their entire life savings after being duped by the men.
 
The commercial fraud team at Surrey Police’s economic crime department began to investigate the two men after receiving reports from elderly victims who had been targeted.
 
One 83 year old man had been called in January 2007 by someone claiming to be from the firm “Waterman and Co”. He was then talked into buying shares in an American company.
 
Over the next 15 months he was reportedly tricked into giving over almost all of the £200,000 that made up his life savings.
 
At least eight more victims from Surrey, Durham, Scotland, Wales, Derbyshire and London lost a total of £1.1 million to the fraud. Police are now trying to recover this money through the Proceeds of Crime Act.
 
Detective Sergeant Simon Lambert, of the Surrey police, said: “Jagger and Healy…targeted victims who were often old and vulnerable with the intention of persuading them to part with their cash, knowing full well they would never see any return.
 
“Many of these people lost their entire savings and it has had a devastating effect on their lives. All the while those in the boiler room were living the high life in Spain as a result of this selfish enterprise.”

Source: Debt Management Today