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Fraudulent mortgage broker foiled by Sainsbury's
Monday 26th July 2010A corrupt financial advisor who swindled his clients out of £316,000 worth of pensions and savings is now behind bars, thanks to Sainsbury’s Bank.
Middlesborough-based Dr Adrian Bancroft has been jailed for three years by Teesside Crown Court after pleading guilty to ten charges of fraud against five clients of his company, UK Expatriates, between March 2003 and May 2009.
His crimes were uncovered after Sainsbury’s Bank, with whom he already had a bank account under a client’s name, grew suspicious and contacted the police when the 52 year-old tried to set up a second bank account in the same name.
In January 2009, Bancroft was reported missing from his home in Wrexham, North Wales, and it wasn’t until March 2009 that the Financial Services Authority (FSA) warned that Bancroft may have taken his clients’ money with him after closing down the company.
In court last week, the defence barrister, James Gregory, said that Bancroft, a Durham University PHD graduate who had failed to follow his career dream in palaeontology, fell into a life of dishonesty after being unsuccessful as an independent financial advisor.
Bancroft’s first victim was 55-year-old Jeffrey Alan Bell, who became a client in 1996 after a recommendation and lost £115,871.22p in total, although £56,665.92p was preserved in the Sainsbury’s bank account that Bancroft opened in Bell’s name.
The North East regional news site, Gazette Live, reported that Bancroft, who committed the fraud from his offices on Oxford Road, Middlesborough and his home address in North Wales, even used Mr Bell’s name to register a company with Companies House under ‘JA Bell Ltd’.
Gazette Live reported that the judge, Recorder Neil Davey QC, told the defendant: “They were people who trusted you in your role as their independent financial advisor to look after their money, to invest it wisely and in doing so to create a nest egg for their retirement.
“You grossly abused that trust, diverting their funds to your own purposes. Your offending caused massive harm. Your victims are not just names on a piece of paper, they are real people whose lives have been blighted by your dishonesty.”
Derrick Parkinson, from Hartlepool but now living in Spain, was swindled out of £130,000 by Bancroft. The 71-year-old who has serious health problems, and has not only just lost his wife but has had to sell his Spanish home, according to Gazette Live.
The former oil and gas worker told the paper, Northern Echo, that he lies awake at night “feeling physically sick” because of the position he has been left in by a man he trusted.
Bancroft’s other victims were Brian Jones, 66, from Staffordshire, who lost £22,000, William Glover, 51, from Darlington, who lost £27,072.77p and Thailand-based Michael Armitage, 52, who was conned out of £21,021.
Dr Bancroft admitted to a total of ten charges of fraud, four charges of obtaining a money transfer by deception, three charges of acquiring criminal property and one charge of transferring criminal property.
Defence barrister Mr Gregory said that Bancroft, who used the fraudulent money to fund a normal lifestyle, not an extravagant one, will lose all his assets and will try to put things right from now on.
A spokesperson for Sainsbury’s Finance commented: "We operate high levels of security procedures in order to protect our customers, including protection from those seeking to break the law. This gives our customers peace of mind that their personal information is safe and secure."
Victims will be able to apply for compensation.
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