Two accountants swindled clients in an £8.7 million investment fraud to fund luxury cars, holidays and a stake in Notts County football club.
Mark Ablitt and Marios Lourides promised victims “risk free” investments and high interest rates, claiming the money was held securely in Singapore as their firm, Sears Morgan, acted as middlemen for £60 million property deals.
In reality, millions of pounds were gambled away and squandered on lavish lifestyles for the two fraudsters, Kingston crown court heard.
Judge Georgina Kent said Ablitt, 59, was the more “flamboyant” one of the pair, spending £539,000 on travel and hotel stays including a weekend in Las Vegas, he bought a villa in Thailand, and invested more than £200,000 in Notts County where he was a director for more than a year.
Lourides, also 59, enjoyed a “very comfortable lifestyle”, said the judge, sending his children to private school, running expensive cars and using profits of the fraud to fund other business interests.
The court heard victims lost life savings and inheritances to the six-year fraud, which ran from 2012 to 2018, while one woman was left unable to pay for her daughter’s wedding.
“They trusted you with their savings, and you squandered their money on high living and gambling,” said the judge. “The financial and emotional impact has been devastating.”
“You claimed their funds were invested in secure bank accounts in Singapore, repayable on demand.”
The judge noted Ablitt had spent £1.2 million on gambling. Both fraudsters are also previous directors of the Jongleurs comedy chain.
She said Lourides was the front man for the fraud, using his “charisma” and successful accounting career to convince 17 victims to invest.
“You used your role as a director for multiple companies to facilitate this fraud because you represented yourself as a successful accountant who could be trusted and you juggled funds by transferring money from one bank account to another.”
The court heard one woman’s hopes of early retirement were destroyed when she lost the proceeds of the sale of her home. Another woman who invested the profits of a property sale lost £3 million.
Another victim’s children were threatened with removal from their school as a result of the family falling into debt, while elderly victims suffered damage to their health as they coped with the stress.
Lourides was convicted of conspiracy to defraud and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Ablitt admitted the same charge and was jailed for six years and nine months.
Confiscation proceedings are due next year to try to recover money stolen during the fraud. Both men are banned from acting as company directors.
