Investment fraudster jailed for eight years

A disqualified director who admitted losing and spending £14 million of investors’ money as part of an investment fraud has been jailed for eight years.

Terry Freeman, 63, was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court (14 Feb) after an extensive investigation by the City of London Police.

Freeman had earlier (12 Jan) pleaded guilty to fraudulent trading, engaging in business while bankrupt, acting as a director when bankrupt and acting in contravention of a disqualification order.

The case prompted one senior officer at the force to describe the case as a “brutal reminder of how brazen investment fraudsters can be”.

City of London Police detectives uncovered how up to 700 people invested in Freeman’s company, GFX Capital Ltd, with the promise of no risk and high returns on the foreign exchange markets.

In fact millions of pounds of their money were soon disappearing on botched trades and running his company from offices costing £14,000 per month.

Much of the rest was moved straight into a foreign account and blown on holiday homes in Cyprus and France, a top of the range land rover, an executive box at Spurs and lavish gifts for his new bride, including a £120,000 diamond ring.

Freeman, from Essex, initially managed to cover-up his crimes by moving funds around the SAXO Bank trading accounts and issuing false GFX statements telling investors they were all making healthy profits.

One couple were informed their £1.4 million investment had risen to £2.7 million, only to later find just £14,000 in their trading account. Once planning to buy their dream family home they are now in rented accommodation and living in a state of despair.

Freeman’s deception began to be exposed in 2008 when, expecting a US government bail out of Lehman Brothers, he kept millions of his clients money invested in dollars. Days later the company went bankrupt, the value of the dollar plummeted and he lost half his total investment fund.

GFX announced 12 per cent profits for the month, but by now his clients were growing suspicious of his continued run of success and started to demand their money back.

In February 200, Freeman reported to the Metropolitan Police he was being threatened by angry investors, and admitted to losing approximately £20 million. He was arrested a short while later by City of London Police.

Det Supt Bob Wishart, from the City of London Police’s Economic Crime Directorate, said:

“Terry Freeman was a crook who took his victim’s hard-earned money so that he could live the life of Riley. The consolation to those victims who invested their future in GFX is that today Freeman has now lost his own future, and will have eight years to reflect on the damage he has caused to people’s lives.

“This case is a brutal reminder of how brazen investment fraudsters can be, and how callously they will take their victim’s money. If there can be one positive out of this case, it would be that it might encourage future would-be victims to think twice before investing.

“In these times of financial uncertainty and low interest rates, we would urge investors to be mindful of criminals offering above average high yields of return. If you’re in any doubt at all, do your research and make sure the investment is legitimate before handing over any money."