This
was then funnelled off into US bank accounts for them to enjoy a
lavish lifestyle.
The
men were the backbone of an international criminal crime gang which
swindled at least 2,300 UK citizens.
The
City of London police believe it's the UK's biggest boiler room scam.
"These
men are amongst the most arrogant, ruthless and destructive criminals
the City of London police have ever dealt with and deserve every day
they will spend behind bars," said Detective Inspector KerrieGower, who led the investigation.
The
men co-ordinated what police described as a network of Spanish boiler rooms, employing hundreds of people to cold call investors, using
high pressure and misleading sales tactics to con them into buying
worthless shares.
Most
of the victims were retired professionals whose losses ranged from a
few hundred pounds to £1m.
Andrea Goswami, from Yorkshire, still can't find the words to describe her
loss. Her husband Mark committed suicide after losing around
£200,000.
"How
could they be so arrogant to think they could get away with it, and
have no conscience about it, and just to destroy people's lives in
this way, just for money and just for sheer greed, and is it greed
that's all that it's about - they say money's the root of all evil
and they are evil for what they've done, " she said.
"I'm
never going to get my life back - the life I had with my husband, my
chances of a happy married life with my daughter - we were trying for
another child at the time, those hopes have been destroyed.
Financially it's been devastating and it's a struggle, it will
continue to be a struggle because of what they did."
Mark Goswami's money, and all the other stolen savings, were used to
expand the criminal network and pay for the gang's extravagant
purchases.
They
included a £350,000 private jet, 26 properties and a number of
luxury cars and speed boats.
The
sentencing marks a major milestone in a seven year transatlantic
investigation involving an array of law enforcement agencies, from
Spain to Florida.
John
Joyce, special agent in charge in Tampa, Florida, said the case was a
great example of how law enforcement partnerships worked on an
international scale.
"Their
sentences should send a clear message to other fraudsters."
The
fraud began in 2004 when Pope, 55, Gunter, 64 and Odoni, 56 acquired
the identity of several fraudulent US-based companies. Call centres
based in Spain were then used to try to sell fake stock to
unsuspecting investors.
Websites
and glossy brochures were used to give credibility to the gang's
bogus investment opportunities.
The
enormity of the case first came to light in 2006 when the City of
London police linked a number of inquiries in the UK to activities
under investigation by federal agencies in the US.
"The
devastation and the impact that victims have suffered has been huge
and it's had drastic consequences to individuals lives - marriages
breaking down, selling of properties, individuals losing their
businesses, having to work again when they were about to go in to
retirement," said Detective Inspector Gower.
"The
enormity and scale of the devastation, I can't even say in words what
has happened in relation to this case."
Andrea Goswami travelled half way round the world to tell her story in a
Tampa courtroom.
"Going
into the courtroom was the hardest thing I have ever had to do",
she said.
But
Andrea was determined to get justice for her husband.
She
said he was utterly destroyed by the realisation he'd been conned and
the shame of losing everything he had invested in. Andrea only
discovered the true scale of the losses after he died.
"He
didn't want me to worry about it. My husband's a very proud man and
he would never have told me the truth, he would have soldiered on. If
he hadn't been so desperate at that time, if he'd only been able to
talk to me about it - we could've got through it.
"He
must have been so desperate about the situation and obviously didn't
know what to do for the best - he'd feel like he failed us. It wasn't
his fault but he wouldn't have seen it that way because that's the
sort of person he was - very loving, kind and caring and very
intelligent and wanted to do the best."
Richard
Pope, originally from St Albans in Hertfordshire, was arrested in
Spain and extradited to the US. He pleaded guilty in March 2011 of
conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud between 2004 and 2008.
In
March 2013, the trials of Paul Gunter and Simon Odoni took place with
Pope testifying against them. Both men were found guilty of three
counts of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, as well as 19
counts of mail and wire fraud and 19 counts of money laundering.
Pope
and Gunter had originally worked together in insurance in the UK.
Gunter
had lived in London but later emigrated to the US.
Odoni,
also originally from St Albans, tried to avoid his bail in the UK by
relocating to the Dominican Republic, living in one of the beachside
properties purchased through the scam.
He
was later arrested in Florida while travelling through Miami Airport.
Paul Gunter was sentenced to 25 years, Simon Odoni got 13 years and 4
months while Richard Pope received a far shorter sentence in return
for his co-operation of 4 years and 9 months.
All
three men are spending years behind bars. But no sentence will be
long enough for Andrea Goswami and her family.
"They've
got families of their own. Would they do that to their own families?
It doesn't even bear thinking about what sort of a mind they must
have. To me it's incomprehensible and it makes me so, so angry that
when I see what they bought with all the victims money - they bought
houses and boats and cars and property and left us with nothing. No
amount of money can ever ever replace my husband."
Source:
bbc
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