Two men who perpetrated one of the largest boiler-room shares fraud schemes ever pursued by a UK authority have been ordered to pay £11m in compensation.
Judge Gledhill QC, in Southwark Crown Court, told Jeffrey Revell-Reade, 51, to pay £10,751,000 and Anthony May, 60, to pay £250,000. The pair sold shares in US-listed companies from Madrid, but when investors came to sell the shares they found they were worthless, placed in shell companies or in companies not operating. Both men must pay up within three months or go to prison: ten years for Revell-Reade and three years for May.
Their convictions were linked to seven other individuals, also convicted and sentenced following a seven year investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).
In June 2014, Revell-Reade was sentenced to a further eight years and six months in prison. May was sentenced to seven years and four months.
Mark Thompson, head of the SFO’s proceeds of crime division, says: “These individuals benefited substantially from their crimes. Their lavish lifestyles featured numerous overseas properties, wine collections and a luxury yacht. We welcome these orders which the pair now need to pay or face a further period of imprisonment.”
Joanna Dimmock, white collar defence specialist and senior associate at White & Case, says: “Following the recent Libor acquittals, the confiscation sums in this case may indicate much needed success for the SFO. However, on closer analysis, the sums agreed, in fact, suggest significant success for the defence.
“The SFO had been seeking to recover £43m from Revell-Reade. This would have been the biggest order it had ever obtained in such a case. The burden was on the defence to satisfy the SFO that their client did not have the hidden assets they claimed he possessed. This was a substantial hurdle that Revell-Reade's legal team were clearly able to meet and a much lower figure of £10.75m was ultimately agreed.”
