TAYLOR-BAREFOOT: ON THE RUN CITY CONMAN JAILED IN HIS ABSENCE

A City conman who spent thousands of investors’ savings on a ‘lavish’ lifestyle was jailed for six-and-a-half years in his absence today (Fri) after he went on the run from his Old Bailey trial.

Highspending broker Robert Taylor-Barefoot, 33, skipped bail and fled his home days before he and 41 year-old business partner Jeremy Wright were due before a jury over the £250,000 scam.

It has since emerged that his travel documents were not seized, nor was he made subject of a financial surety, as part of his bail conditions.

If and when he is arrested Taylor-Barefoot will not face confiscation proceedings as his jet-set lifestyle has left him with no assets.

The court heard he had ‘effectively been living hand to mouth’ and there was no evidence he had any finances behind him.

Taylor-Barefoot, who has 11 previous convictions for dishonesty, splashed £9,500 of company funds on his wedding and a further £15,000 at West End nightspot Mahiki – the fashionable haunt  frequented by celebrities and royalty, including Prince Harry.

He was convicted of entering in to a conspiracy with Wright and duping seven investors into believing their money would be traded in foreign currencies.

The frauds took place while the duo ran Jersey-registered BBA Capita Capital Management LLP and QFX Absolute Return Fund between July 2008 and December 2009.

The conmen joined forces just six months after they were spared jail for another scam.

Their victims lost a total of £237,479 after investing £247,000, because the crooked pair managed to pay pack just £9,500.

Rather than investing the money, Taylor-Barefoot, who was described as ‘extremely demonstrative’, persuasive and a bragger who ‘likes the sounds of his own voice’, used it to fund a lavish lifestyle, splashing out on champagne, night clubs and strippers.

In three months at the end of 2008 he also paid out £13,000 at a strip club.

Taylor-Barefoot was further convicted of acting in contravention of a disqualification order which prevented him from becoming a company director.

Prosecutor Paul Raudnitz had told jurors the evidence against him was ‘absolutely overwhelming’

A warrant is now out for his arrest and once he is found he will further court hearing for skipping his bail.

Wright, who did attend the trial, was convicted of the conspiracy and five counts of fraud. He was cleared of two further fraud charges.

He was jailed for four years for his part in the scam.

Their ‘salesman’ Alex Ariana, 28, who admitted sourcing investors and convincing them to part with their money was spared jail.

Passing sentence the Judge Recorder Nigel Peters QC said Taylor-Barefoot was the ‘brains’ behind the fraud and had hired Wright as his ‘sidekick’.

‘The conspiracy involved the promotion of a bogus foreign exchange business promising the hugest of returns and sadly a number of victims, who themselves hold good jobs –  many in the City – intelligent people, all fell for the scheme which promised hundreds of per cent returns on buying and selling foreign exchange,’ he said.

Once investors had parted with money, the fraudsters provided ‘extremely professional’ documents created by Taylor-Barefoot to suggest profits were being made and entice further investment.

‘The most outrageous part of the case is the way these defendants dealt with investors’ money. Instead of looking after it with a view to investing it they set about dissipating the assets.

‘Vast sums of money were withdrawn from AGMs and spent on West End restaurants.

‘Particularly in November and December (2008) Taylor-Barefoot and his team would entertain potential investors, so they claim, in lavish evenings out, including the Mahiki nightclub where thousands of pounds were spent on the company’s credit card.’

The court heard Wright and Taylor-Barefoot had become ‘partners in crime’ after meeting while behind bars.

The pair served time as cellmates at HMP Springhill in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, before they were released months apart from one another in 2006.

Taylor-Barefoot had been convicted of money laundering and was serving a three-year nine-month sentence, while Wright was inside for six years for importing Class A drugs..

Mr Raudnitz said: ‘Their relationship was born in criminality – it was the hallmark of that relationship.’

In 2008 they admitted running a spread betting scam together using fake documents to obtain vast amounts of credit which they frittered away, and were handed 12-month jail sentences, suspended for two years, at Blackfriars Crown Court.

Taylor-Barefoot, known to use at least seven aliases, was also disqualified from being a company director, but within six-months the crooked pair had hatched another plan and launched the bogus investment con.

One investor paid the pair £76,000 in less than a year, another made a single deposit of £50,000.

A brother and sister who handed over a total of £39,000 were the only two victims to receive any money back, but were only given some £9,500 between them.

On his profile page on the business networking website Linked In, Taylor-Barefoot describes himself as ‘head of the quantitative strategies group at BBA Capita’.

He states the company is ‘one of the most dynamic asset managers in the market and provides a complete range of investment solutions for every type of investor.’

His profile also states he spent 21 months working for Goldman Sachs as a chief quantitative analyst between 2004 and 2005 and a year at fellow financial heavyweights Merrill Lynch between 2002 and 2003.

Twice in early 2009 the Jersey Financial Services Commission released statements warning potential investors that Taylor-Barefoot and Wright were practising unregulated.

But they defied the warnings, lied to the financial authorities, and continued to fleece money from unwitting clients.

On court papers it was claimed £49,580.50 was transferred to his now estranged wife Serena’s HSBC account between August 22, 2008, and June 30, 2009.

She was arrested during the investigation, but later released and police took no further action against her.

Wright also accepted some £53,000 was paid in to his personal accounts on top of the expenses he accrued.

Taylor-Barefoot had been on bail and living at his former marital home, a remote country pile in the village of Shifnal in Shropshire.

But during the week before his trial was due to start, in early August, Taylor-Barefoot disappeared.

Police made inquiries with his wife, now living in the nearby town of Ludlow, and his parents, who also still live in Shropshire, but both insist he has not been seen.

His description has now been distributed to all major British ports and airports, but he has so far evaded capture.

Recorder Peters said: ‘Given his antecedents and at least seven aliases it is unfortunate that his travel documents were not secured and perhaps a surety not imposed given the strength of the evidence.

‘It may well be it dawned on him how strong the case was against him.’

Giving evidence Wright said he was a self-taught trader without a great deal of experience and claimed Taylor-Barefoot ‘had the expertise’.

The small amount of legitimate trading done by the pair was described as a ‘disaster’.

City of London Police’s Perry Sands said: ‘Taylor-Barefoot, Wright and Ariana misled investors from start to finish, operating from an unauthorised company and trading in an unlicensed hedge fund.

‘But while the means were sophisticated the result was all to familar – greedy fraudsters who use other people’s money to fund an extravagant lifestyle ending up behind bars.
 
‘These convictions should act as a warning to people who think they are too clever to be caught and their fraud is too sophisiticated to crack. We now want to see Barefoot-Taylor fully pay for his part in this fraud and call on the public to contact us if they have any information on his whereabouts.’

Taylor-Barefoot, of (2) Brockhurst, Shifnal, Shropshire; and Wright, of (57) Crowell Mews, Aylesbury, Bucks; both denied conspiracy to defraud and seven counts of fraud.

Taylor-Barefoot was convicted of all charges and was jailed for a total of six and a half years. He was disqualified from becoming a director for a further seven years.

Wright was convicted of all but two counts of fraud and was jailed for a total of four years. He too was disqualified from taking a directorship for five years.

Ariana, of (flat 4) (36) Tetherdown, Muswell Hill, north London, admitted communicating an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity without authority or exemption in connection with the case.

He was sentenced to nine months imprisonment suspended for two years. He will also have to complete 100 hours of unpaid work in the next 12 months.

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