£138k ‘fraud’ prevented couple moving abroad

Court: Businessman tells jury he lost money given to financial advisor

A businessman has told a court investing in an alleged £12.9 million fraud has prevented him from moving abroad with his cancer-stricken wife.

Mark Ansell, 69, told a jury he lost £138,000 after giving the cash to his financial advisor, 66-year-old Alistair Greig.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard Greig was allegedly going to put the cash in a minimum risk scheme that would supposedly make Mr Ansell an 8% return.

Mr Ansell, of Durris, Aberdeenshire, told prosecution lawyer Steven Borthwick he was expecting to make £149,040.

He trusted Greig because he had acted as his financial advisor for more than two decades, but Mr Ansell was contacted by the police weeks after making the investment.

He told the High Court he did not get a penny of the cash back and that, as a result, he has been unable to retire from the dog care business he runs with his wife Linda.

Mr Ansell said the loss of such a sum was having “a very detrimental effect” on their lives.

He said: “My wife is not well at the moment. She has cancer. We were hoping to move to warmer climes to help with her condition but we have been unable to do that.

“We would have been able to retire but we still both work to retain an income.”

In cross examination, defence advocate Stephen O’Rourke QC suggested that Mr Ansell had actually received payments of £106,000.

Mr Ansell said he couldn’t recollect receiving that cash.

Mr Ansell was giving evidence on the second day of proceedings against Greig, of Boston,

Lincolnshire – formerly of Cairnbulg – who denies charges of fraud and breaching financial and proceeds of crimes laws.

The court also heard evidence from chip shop owner William Berry, 56, from Oldmeldrum, who invested more than £200,000 with his financial advisor.

The pair were said to have often watched football together, with Greig entertaining his client at Manchester United matches.

On September 14 2014, they watched them beat Queens Park Rangers 4-0, but the court heard that during the match Greig allegedly said his company was being probed by authorities on a tax matter.

Mr Berry told police officers he was expecting to receive a large sum of money from Greig shortly after the match but came to learn he was in hospital.

The court was told the financial advisor had attempted to take his life.

The trial before judge Lord Tyre continues.

“My wife has cancer... We were hoping to move to warmer climes”