Jail for Ponzi fraudster

A broker who fleeced investors out of £1.6m in a Ponzi fraud has been jailed for nearly six years. David Stevens, 67, told 17 victims they would receive a 12 per return if they gave him money to loan to mysterious ‘third party companies’ between 2005 to 2017. Stevens encouraged his clients to invest in his crooked scheme. But they got nothing after parting with vast sums, with one investor losing £720,000. Southwark Crown Court heard the grandfather spent the…