Jail for callous swindler who caused misery to 115 pensioners

A fraudster who swindled pensioners out of £11.5m to spend on holidays in Mexico and a deposit on a former royal retreat was jailed for more than eight years.

Steve Long, 59, and business partner Raymond Simpson, 78, scammed elderly homeowners who wanted to protect their properties and assets from care home fees and inheritance tax.

The pair squandered investors’ life savings on Spanish land purchases, speculative investments, and trips abroad, Southwark Crown Court heard.

Long ran several businesses under the banner of Universal Wealth Preservation, persuading clients to attend presentations and seminars at hotels between 2008 and 2018.

The grifter told some 115 customers across England he was investing in low-risk schemes, but with the help of Mr Simpson he put their savings in unsustainable, higher-risk schemes without their knowledge.

The victims came from Essex, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Kent and their losses totalled £11,577,762.

Prosecutor Charlene Sumnall said Long ‘in essence, ran a Ponzi scheme’, using the funds of new clients to pay back older clients and cover overheads and taxes on his business.

Long also spent the money on his wife Melanie Long, and his brother’s cleaning business in Ipswich.

Ms Sumnall said ‘Tim Long Cleaning’ received a total of £947,903.66, which was ‘keeping it afloat’ and ‘obviously not for the betterment of any of the trusts’.

When police arrested Long in April 2018, a document found in his Mercedes outlined how trustees were not meant to profit from the trust without the authorisation of clients.

Investors had also received a letter saying their money was in interest bearing bank accounts, but Ms Sumnall said this was a lie.

Long spent more than £300,000 of client money on a deposit for £4m Coton House, a Grade II listed 18th-century country house with 67-acres of land in Rugby, Warwickshire.

The deposit was lost after Long failed to make up the remaining £2.7m balance.

The Coton House estate was a regular retreat for King Edward VII in the early 1900s.

One of the victims Debbie West launched her own legal action to get her own money back prompting Long to use £600,000 of Lillian Reardon’s money to keep Ms West’s lawyers at bay.

Ms Barker said in a victim impact statement the scam was ‘such an evil deception against vulnerable people’ and that she felt she had failed her late aunt who was ‘like a mother’.

Another victim, Roderick McDonald, used Universal for probate on his father’s estate, but was unable to get the money when facing an inheritance tax bill of more than £400,000.

Multiple victims were falsely told the Universal scheme held £2bn of client money as they lost hundreds of millions of pounds of life savings.

Client funds were also used to pay legal fees during a dispute between Universal and a leaflet company over unpaid work.

Ms Sumnall said the fraud was aggravated by the age of victims, who ‘put crudely, do not have enough time left to earn back’ what was lost.

In a victim impact statement, Christopher and Pauline Andrews said: ‘We are ordinary working people who were careful with money. This £100,000 lost took many years to accumulate. We think about it often. What our family could have done with this money.’

Margaret Watson, the surviving wife of a retired police officer, said they had ‘ordinary working class roots’ and had both been ‘shattered’ by the con.

Ms Sumnall also said the betrayal had caused sleep disturbances and anxiety for many victims, and ‘severe rifts’ between some family members.

Reading an emotional victim impact statement to the court on behalf of her parents, Rachel Ayris said: ‘It’s heartbreaking, devastating, upsetting and that will never go away… It’s cruel what Steven Long has done to my mum and dad.’

Andryene Sinclair, the daughter of Linda Sinclair, who has dementia, said her mum no longer ‘has the capacity to understand the betrayal she has suffered’.

‘Since the money was stolen our mum has become noticeably more anxious and unsettled… Our mum has been more confused and more distressed and fearful than before.

‘Knowing she was taken advantage of, especially by someone she trusted, has caused deep emotional pain.

‘Our parents did not have much to begin with but through years of effort made a good honest life. But now that was stolen by someone they trusted. It’s devastating and feels deeply unfair. The money that was robbed represented a lifetime of hardwork, sacrifice and planning.

‘This crime has directly affected the future care plans we had in place for our mother… She trusted her savings would provide stability and dignity in her later years. The sense of security has been taken away from her.’

Ms Sinclair, who worked in the NHS until her retirement, has had two heart attacks during the legal process.

Ms Sumnall said Simpson was a ‘well-respected financial advisor’ so ‘must have known’ the financial schemes he promoted were ‘hopeless’.

‘He must have abused his position of trust… Mr Simpson knew Mr Long was abusing his position of trust and assisted him with massive personal reward,’ she added.

Ms Sumnall said Simpson was only responsible for the loss of £785,308.50 over three investments and £615,000 on land in Spain – not the £11.5m Long pocketed.

Simpson, originally from Gateshead but living in Portugal, denied but was convicted of two charges of fraud by a jury.

He was absent from his three-week trial in March as he said the hip replacement he had in January meant he could not travel from overseas.

Long, of Kesgrave, near Ipswich, had earlier admitted the two fraud charges.

He appeared in court wearing a charcoal suit and blue tie while Simpson was again absent.

Ms Sumnall earlier told jurors: ‘This is fundamentally a case about greed. Mr Long and Mr Simpson sought to enrich themselves using money that was not theirs.’

As Simpson said, in a text to Long on 27 November 2016: ‘I am sick of being poor.’

Together they plundered the cash from Universal Trustees – a group of funds they had set up for their investors.

Ms Sumnall said Simpson ‘always knew that the money was not Mr Long’s but that of Universal Trustees which by definition means he knows it is the funds of individual trusts.’

Simpson advised Long to make ‘too good to be true’ investments with ‘unfeasibly high returns while claiming to be low risk.’

‘Many of the investments, the Crown say, were obviously fraudulent and by handing money over to these obviously fraudulent schemes, significant sums were lost.’

The court heard ‘at no stage’ did Simpson or Long seek the consent of their elderly clients to have their savings deposited in the schemes.

‘This was all done without their knowledge,’ said Ms Sumnall.

Client money was misused in land purchases in Spain and highly speculative ‘bank trades’, the vast majority of which was lost.

Many of these trades went through Simpson’s own bank account including a ‘curious arrangement’ in which he received £1m of client money.

Asked why he lied to the bank about the source of the funds, he told police: ‘If you justify it to yourself, it’s not lies is it?‘

One trade was supposed to generate £20m, but ended up costing £267,165.14 of his clients’ money.

‘Not only had zero money been made, but client funds had been lost and dissipated,’ said Ms Sumnall.

As an experienced financial advisor, Ms Sumnall said Simpson should have advised against and refused to act or help in any future investments of this nature.

‘Sadly, as you may have guessed, that is not what happened,’ she continued, adding: ‘These were people’s inheritances, or life savings gone, the Crown say, because of the greed of Mr Long and Mr Simpson.’

Ms Sumnall said when Long texted Simpson to tell him his wife Melanie Long was being arrested and he was going to hand himself in, Simpson texted back “Sugar”.

‘Maybe you may think it was a nod and a wink because they were in things together,’ Ms Sumnall told jurors.

‘If you thought everything was tickety boo and nothing dodgy had been going on you’d be shocked.

‘That is because he is fully aware that Stephen Long has been using clients’ money for things it wasn’t intended.’

Long was first arrested in April 2018 by Suffolk Police before an investigation was led by the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU).

In his police interview Simpson admitted that in his 40 years of work as a financial advisor ‘he had never known an investment to rise from two million to 20 million in such a short period of time.’

Ms Sumnall said there were ‘red flags all over the place.’

Simpson had previously attended seminars put on by Long’s company, Universal, so he knew what they promised clients.

After joining as a financial advisor he attended meetings and assisted Long.

Alexander Wright, KC, defending Simpson, earlier told jurors in his closing speech: ‘What Steve Long did to those people who trusted him with their assets is absolutely disgusting.

‘It is inexcusable. He committed the most grotesque breach of trust.

‘The judge will in due course deal with Mr Long in the appropriate way. I ask you to put out of your mind that someone must pay, because Mr Long will pay.

‘He (Long) was stealing his clients’ money. He uses it to buy a villa for his wife and to pay for holidays in Mexico. He transfers hundreds of thousands of pounds to his wife’s bank account…But he is so clever about doing it that nothing is noticed by those who work with him every day.’

‘Mr Long is a compelling and sophisticated fraudster. He is a man running a company in the most inappropriate way imaginable.’

Mr Wright said Long presented himself as wealthy and successful businessman.

‘He said that he was living in the home of a professional footballer.’

‘How can we be sure that Mr Simpson, who was described by his own employees as gullible, who is located hundreds of miles away-he hardly ever goes down to the Ipswich offices-how was he supposed to know what Mr Long was up to and how he was abusing his clients funds?’

Long admitted two counts of fraud while Simpson denied the charges.

Steve Long was later jailed for eight years and four months, while pensioner Raymond Simpson was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in his absence.

Sentencing Long, Judge Gregory Perrins said: ‘Your company specifically targeted elderly people who were retiring or approaching retirement.

‘These were not particularly wealthy people. They were people who worked hard all their lives.

‘The whole purpose of the trust was to protect their clients assets from dissipation and it would have been clear to you not one of your clients would have agreed to their money being used in that way.

‘You were using other people’s money to keep your business afloat.

‘You used your money to fund what can only be called a lavish lifestyle for you and your family.

‘These were not modest holidays. One payment to Mayan Resorts and Vacations was for an eye-watering £74,000.

‘Your wife also used money taken from trust accounts to buy a Land Rover, settle her tax bill, and buy a Spanish villa.

‘You also put down a £200,000 deposit on a Grade II listed house that I am told is worth £3m.

‘You used other people’s money to enjoy a life that was out of reach for ordinary people.’

Judge Perrins said the money spent on Long’s brother’s cleaning business was ‘breathtaking’.

On the 115 victims and their families, the judge said: ‘You have caused untold devastation and misery to the lives of so many.

‘These are people who have suffered anxiety, lost their confidence, and this has caused rifts within families.

‘Your offending has taken a very heavy toll on the lives of so many and you should feel deeply ashamed.’

On Long’s mitigation, Judge Perrins said: ‘It’s also said on your behalf you intended to repay the money. I reject that. There’s no evidence to support your assertion.’

The judge also rejected any suggestion Long did not target vulnerable victims, and said he found it ‘very difficult to accept’ Long’s apology letter.

‘Yours are not the actions of someone who deeply and sincerely regrets what they have done. They are the actions of someone who has done all they can to avoid responsibility,’ he added.

Judge Perrins said Long’s claim he never intended to cause his victims a loss was ‘self-serving deception’.

Turning to Simpson, now 79, Judge Perrins said he had no doubt he supported ‘reckless’ investments ‘to make profit without facing any of the risk’.

‘Mr Simpson’s motivation, like Mr Long, was simple greed.’

Judge Perrins said the fact Simpson invested in the scheme was not mitigation, and rejected any suggestion he did so without sophistication.

Judge Perrins said Simpson used £1.2million of trust money to invest in a scheme which promised to turn $200,000 into $1m in just five days.

Simpson also used £70,000 of trust money on an ‘obvious scam’ offering $1m dollars from $150,000 in seven days.

Judge Perrins found Simpson was knowingly party to a gross abuse of trust and that the offending was ‘plainly sophisticated’ using complex arrangements to layer funds.

The judge said it was a ‘bitter irony’ for the victims that Simpson had moved to Portugal using money from the sale of his UK property.

‘He has done all he can to remain beyond the reach of the British courts and I have no doubt he will continue to do so,’ he added.

Judge Perrins also found Simpson was ‘hiding behind his health issues’ and that proper medical evidence had not been forthcoming.

Long was jailed for eight years and four months, while Simpson received five years and six months in his absence.

Confiscation proceedings will take place on 9 December.

Defending Long, Marie Spenwyn said her client’s main mitigation was his guilty plea which had avoided the need for a lengthy trial.

Ms Spenwyn claimed: ‘The business was not set up to be a fraudulent one from the outset. It ran profitably until 2013.’

There was sarcastic laughter from the public gallery when she added: ‘He accepts acting far outside of his duties, but he says he did intend to repay the money.’

Defending Simpson, Alexander Wright, KC, listed his various medical conditions, including a hip injury from a recent fall and the onset of Parkinson’s disease.

‘Prison will be particularly difficult for him given his health conditions,’ added Mr Wright.
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