Surveyor in finance scam

A retired chartered surveyor conned nine investors, one a cancer sufferer, out of more than £220,000 over two years in an elaborate spread-betting scam.

Peter Plimley (68) who was living at Kinfauns, near Perth, at the time, duped his victims into believing his scheme couldn’t fail.

But it began to make huge losses and he eventually sent an email to his clients telling them all of their cash had been lost in a single day.

The accused said it had “gone in 30 seconds”after a collapse in the money markets.

Among those who lost out were a breast cancer sufferer who had invested £28,000 of her critical illness payment.

Relatives delayed telling her what had happened to her cash as she was undergoing treatment at the time.

Others who were conned out of substantial amounts were Plimley’s brother-inlaw (£33,000), his ex-wife (£20,000) and son (£16,500).

Plimley and his 61-year-old wife Wendy, previously of Church Road, Kinfauns, had both denied that between December 1, 2011, and December 1, 2013, they organised an account with IG Index Limited and engaged in a scheme of spread betting on various financial markets.

The couple, now living at Craigdhu Road, Newtonmore, were originally accused of embezzling a total of £345,359 from 13 different investors.

Wendy Plimley had her not guilty plea to the charge accepted at Perth Sheriff Court on Friday and her husband admitted obtaining a reduced sum of £228,359.

He will return to court for sentence on May 3 after Community Justice Social Work and psychiatric reports have been obtained.

Sheriff Gillian Wade continued his bail but warned him a jail term was inevitable because of the sums of money involved.

Four of the investors had received their initial sums back, along with substantial profits.

But he had made a profit from only three investment periods - and had lost cash on 42.

Plimley and his wife had been property investors but he had since been made bankrupt. Solicitor David Holmes will give his plea in mitigation next month.