£113m BRASS NECK
SWINDLER LAUNCHES BRAZEN VIDEO BID TO
Ponzi crook hatches new scam after being caught for huge fraud
Shameless £113million conman Stephen Farley continued his bid to dupe customers – after his first Ponzi scheme was exposed.
Video footage shows Farley trying to embezzle more cash from clients as he awaited his High Court trial for fraud.
He convinced hundreds of people to sink money into his firm Cameron Farley by luring them in with promised profits of more than nine per cent.
The 57- year- old claimed the company generated millions of pounds on successful investments and trading on the foreign exchange markets and assured customers that potential losses were covered by insurance.
But he was, in fact, the mastermind behind a complicated scam that saw him pocket investors’ cash to blow on a lavish lifestyle.
We can reveal that brazen Edinburgh-based Farley – who is facing a lengthy jail sentence over the scam – tried to recruit investors in a bogus recycling firm while awaiting trial. He tried to promote a company – called Revolve – in a marketing video posted on YouTube before he appeared last month at the High Court in Edinburgh, where he admitted fraud.
Farley, who wi l l be sentenced later this month, set up the firm af ter Cameron Farley col lapsed with debts of £113million.
The fraudster even tried to convince victims of his initial con to plough cash into the second project as a way of getting their money back. Some of the investors had put in tens of thousands of pounds of their life savings into his firm, who were based in Edinburgh’s prestigious St Andrew Square.
The video was sti l l available to view last week. Farley describes Revolve as an “environmentally friendly solution” who reduce risk of pollution caused by illegal dumping of tyres and scrap metal.
He said: “I am here today to tell the Cameron Farley clients, the whole of the UK and the wider world that I have not reneged on my corporate social responsibilities or duty of care.
“We can continue to focus on the past but in reality no one benefits. I now intend to focus on the future and how I intend to progress my new business.
“This course of action enables me to get people back to a financially stable position. Let us work together to reduce the risk.”
Revolve are no longer bel ieved to be trading and no one from the company could be contacted last week.
A website advertised by Farley on his video could not be found either.
Farley admitted in court that he was behind an £18million fraud – but his scheme attracted almost £ 40million from investors over a four-year period.
When Cameron Farley went bust in 2008, liquidators discovered nearly all the money was gone and called in the police.
A massive £24million was paid into the firm’s bank accounts by unsuspecting investors a year before they went out of business. Auditors Grant Thornton also discovered debts of £113million and evidence of a classic Ponzi sting operated by Farley.
A Ponzi fraud occurs when an individual or company falsely claims an investment has been successful by paying customers cash received from new investors instead of legitimate profit.
Italian-born Charles Ponzi became notorious for using the technique in 1920 in Boston, US.
Grant Thornton also discovered that Farley and his wife Fiona, 52, had personally received more than £900,000 from the failed company.
Investors had flocked to Cameron Farley from across the UK, Europe and Canada.
Farley used the money to finance a lifestyle of luxury cars, cruises, five- star hotels and
shopping trips to Harrods. The Barbados-born crook failed to disclose to clients that he had previous convictions in 1991 for theft and in 1993 for fraud, for which he served a jail term.
Grant Thornton found that he and Fiona both had Bentleys, with personalised number plates costing £27,000.
One of the flash motors was a £160,000 Continental Coupe GT and the other a £180,000 Continental Convertible.
The couple ran up £325,000 worth of loans and credit card payments on the company accounts.
Farley also splashed out £ 20,000 on a month- long honeymoon cruise after the couple married in 2006. In April 2008, Farley used the company bank account to buy a £425,000 home in Edinburgh’s New Town.
Two years earlier, he and his wife had bought an old mi ll house in Dalkeith, Midlothian, for £ 840,000.
The deposit, legal fees and stamp duty, totalling £ 329,000, were paid for from the company bank account.
In a 2007 newspaper interview, he boasted of his luxury lifestyle, saying: “Some people may choose to save money going to less expensive establishments. I will go on holiday and say I want the most expensive hotel.”
Cameron Farley staff told liquidators that their boss always kept his office locked when he was away from his desk.
Farley was original ly charged with a £37million scam in 2012 when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court. But after four years of legal wrangling, he admitted a reduced charge of obtaining £18.4million by fraud at the High Court in Edinburgh last month.
Between 2004 and 2008, Farley, of Newtongrange, Midlothian, contacted potential investors pretending he would invest their money and trade it on the foreign exchange market.
Fake statements were sent out and most of the funds invested in the firm were never traded on the foreign currency market. What little was traded made a loss.
Farley ran the scheme without the authorisation of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and only a fraction of the £37million was ever recovered.
Victims set up The Cameron Farley Action Group in 2009 in a bid to get compensation for their massive losses.
Around 400 clients then successfully sued US-based foreign exchange firm Gain Capital, who had received about £ 11million from Cameron Farley.
None of the action group was able to speak to the Sunday Mail last week due to a confidentiality agreement.
But on condi tion of anonymity, one member said: “We’re all very angry that we were taken in by Farley and ended up paying for a very luxurious and lavish lifestyle for him and his wife.
“Though some of us got money back, we had to wait years and it was a stressful and difficult time for everyone.
“We feel that we have been let down by the authorities, particularly the FSA and the banks – who should have taken action more quickly.”
Police Scotland Detective Inspector Arron Clinkscales added: “Stephen Farley presented himself as a reputable businessman and convinced unsuspecting victims to invest in his fraudulent scheme.
“His deception allowed him to extort several million pounds from hard-working members of the public, for which he has yet to show any remorse.
“His conviction should send a clear message that any and all reports of financial misconduct will be robustly investigated and anyone found to be involved in offences of this nature will be brought to justice.”
Fraud is now at record levels in Britain. Government-run Action Fraud, who gather information on fraud complaints, launch around 30,000 new cases a month.
Ken Milliken, head of forensic for accountants KPMG in Scotland, said: “Most fraud involves people targeting banks and businesses and institutions.
“However there’s a growing number of people falling victim to this kind of investment fraud.
“I would advise people instead to place their investments with reputable High Street names.
“That way you’re protected if anything goes wrong.”
We’re all very angry that we were taken in by Farley and ended up paying for his lifestyle