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A CORRUPT stockbroker who was first exposed by The Mail on Sunday 15 years ago has been given a two-year suspended prison sentence for his latest scam. Stephen Todd, 40, of Limehouse in East London, appeared at Southwark Crown Court where he pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to defraud.
Todd was behind IPR Capital Limited, which raked in £5.4million from 344 investors who were told their money would finance a gold mining project in Ecuador. The company was closed down by the Insolvency Service following an investigation.
Todd was originally a salesman at Pacific Continental Securities, which went into liquidation after selling worthless shares to investors. He then moved to Square Mile Securities, which collapsed after being hit with a £250,000 fine for cheating its clients.
Todd then set up Hamilton Bentley and Partners, which sold plots of land as investments. It was shut down by the High Court after I warned in 2007 that the land had no planning permission for development. However, the City regulator then allowed Todd to open a fully licensed stockbroking firm, White Square Investments. It failed in 2009, and Todd was later banned from running any company for ten years. He was also declared bankrupt, owing £363,000 in taxes.
Despite this, his scams continued and in 2018 he was jailed for seven years for fraud, and a further year was later added to his sentence for a separate swindle. Todd’s latest court appearance came after a bank manager was asked by an elderly client to transfer £100,000 to IPR Capital for investment.
The manager became suspicious and informed the police. Officers from the City of London Police found Todd was the brainchild behind the fraud. Last Monday, Todd escaped an immediate fresh prison term. He was given a two-year jail sentence, suspended for two years, and a 12month curfew. Meanwhile, Todd remains on the public register of the Financial Conduct Authority, with a simple note saying that he is no longer in a job that requires FCA approval, and has never faced any disciplinary action.