‘We’ll hunt down the savings scammers’

A GOVERNMENT minister has vowed to protect savers and hound fraudsters after a “despicable” duo were jailed for a £13.7million pensions scam.

Guy Opperman’s pledge came after Alan Barratt and Susan Dalton were put behind bars last week for tricking 245 people into transferring their retirement pots into fraudulent schemes.

Barratt, 62, was jailed for five years and seven months while Dalton, 66, received four years and eight months. Both admitted fraud, based on their roles as pension trustees.

The Spain-based pair were part of a criminal enterprise that persuaded people to transfer their savings, each worth an average of around £55,000, into the bogus schemes.

Pensions minister Mr Opperman said: “Let this court case be a message to those rip-off merchants who think they can ruin people’s retirement: we won’t rest until you end up behind bars.

“These scammers deceived hundreds of savers, depriving them of security in retirement through their despicable actions. As minister for pensions, one of my key priorities is making sure people are protected from the devastating impact of pension cons and the callous crooks responsible for them.”

Mr Opperman said pension trustees have already been given new powers to intervene if they suspect “someone’s hardearned pension savings will end up in a fraudster’s grubby fingers”.

He said the Online Safety Bill would crack down on dodgy adverts that “lure people into these rip-offs”.

And he added: “[We are] not stopping there, knowing that as scammers’ crooked techniques evolve, so must our defences.

“We’re arming savers with the tools they need to spot these duplicitous fraudsters and stop them in their tracks, such as our Moneyhelper service and Action Fraud.”

Sentencing Barratt and Dalton at Southwark Crown Court, south-east London, on Friday, Judge Gregory Perrins said the impact of their crimes had been “utterly devastating”.

He told them: “I heard about depression, anxiety, divorce and suicide attempts. Each account is a story of a life ruined and you should be ashamed of bringing such misery to so many innocent people.”

‘I won’t rest until you are in jail’