Conmen who made £37 million by convincing victims ‘money grows on trees’

Two fraudsters who convinced investors that money really does grow on trees in a £37m teak farm scam have been jailed for eleven years each.

Andrew Skeene, 44, and Omari Bowers, 45, claimed their hardwood plantations in Brazil would earn handsome returns and protect the Amazon rainforest.

In interviews Bowers boasted: ‘People say money does not grow on trees but it does, because each time a tree is thinned that is a tangible asset. It’s actually worth something.’

The pair promised their company, Global Forestry Investments would build accommodation for their tree growers and a school and performing arts centre for their children.

Skeene stated: ‘I feel very strongly about the environment, and global change.

‘I believe we have a moral obligation to the next generation so they can inherit the planet which is sustainable and reliable just how we inherited from our parents and grandparents.’

They set up three teak tree farms, Belem Sky Plantation, Para Sky Plantation and Para Grosso Sky Plantation.

At the height of the scam Global Forestry Investments had offices in Sao Paulo, London, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

In reality farms were operating at a loss, but the conmen plundered more than 2,000 victims’ pension pots as they enjoyed a luxury lifestyle at their expense, Southwark Crown Court heard.

They were convicted of three charges of conspiracy to defraud and misconduct in the course of winding up a company by a jury last month following a seven-year investigation by the Serious Fraud Office.

The victim impact statements read out in court described the ‘mental anguish’ suffered by those who lost their life savings in the fraud.

One victim suffered ’emotional and psychological harm’ when they lost £25,000 to the fraudsters and had to delay their retirement.

Another said: ‘I feel violated. I refuse to allow anyone into my house in fear of being duped again.’

Andrew Trollope, defending father of four Bowers, said: ‘This case is a tragedy for them and will be a dreadful burden for them going forward.’

Judge Jeffrey Pegden told them: ‘I treat you both as men of good character.

‘You were both convicted by unanimous verdict of the jury. It has to be said you were convicted on the basis of compelling evidence.

‘Having heard the evidence in this case over many many weeks, I have no doubt that your schemes were fraudulent from mid 2012 at the latest.

‘In my judgement your culpability is high. You were the ones who lied.’

Judge Pegden added that investors relied upon the defendants to be honest.

‘There were a very large number of victims, in total 1,800 different investors and three institutional investors that doubtlessly represent numerous individuals.

‘The frauds had a serious detrimental impact on the investors.

‘Some lost their life savings. Prolonged distress and mental anguish had been caused to a number of victims.’

Judge Pegden added: ‘You two devised, operated and controlled three Brazilian investment schemes between 2010 and 2015. Those schemes took in over £35 million and you lost most of the money.

‘The funds were received by you from investors. They were passed through complex companies.

‘You used nominees to conceal that you were the beneficiaries of the scheme. The investors believed they would get a safe and steady income but what you wrote or said were either false from the outset or became false and misleading.

‘After the company went into liquidation you deliberately assisted in deceiving the authorities. You made determined efforts to prolong the frauds and obtain more investor money.’

Lisa Osofsky, director at the SFO, said: ‘Our international investigation exposed an intricate web of money transfers, forged documents and invented identities used to scam pensioners and savers out of their money under the false pretence of environmental protection.

‘Today’s guilty verdicts on all charges marks a significant step towards achieving justice for over 2,000 victims. We won’t stop fighting fraud and are proud to have brought this matter to justice.’

In addition to their jail terms Skeene of Croydon and Bowers of Lewisham were banned from being company directors for ten years.