Alan Barratt and Susan Dalton, part of a scam that tricked more than 200 savers into transferring their pension pots into fraudulent schemes they controlled, have been jailed for a total of 10 years.
The pair were sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on April 22, after admitting charges of fraud by abuse of position arising from their roles as trustees of pension schemes following a prosecution brought by the Pensions Regulator.
According to the watchdog, Barratt received a sentence of five years and seven months while Dalton was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison. The pair were also banned from acting as company directors for eight years following a request by TPR.
The court set a timetable under the Proceeds of Crime Act to investigate whether any of the money taken in the fraud can be recovered from the defendants, with an initial hearing set for November 4, the regulator added.
These are undoubtedly extremely serious offences in which each of you carried out the role of trustee dishonestly and, put simply, had you not done so, many people would not have had their lives ruined
Judge Perrins
From Spain to British courts
TPR’s initial case alleged that between 2012 and 2014, some 245 savers were persuaded to transfer their pension savings, totalling £13.7mn, into 11 schemes managed by three defendants — Barratt, Dalton and Julian Hanson.
The regulator said the transferred funds had been dissipated by the defendants, with almost all of the savings lost.
However, it announced on March 30 that it has dropped its case against Hanson, who had pleaded not guilty.
Barratt initially entered a not guilty plea last year to a charge of fraud by abuse of position, before changing his plea to guilty in January 2022.
The defendant had been arrested in Alicante, Spain, and extradited to the UK under a European arrest warrant.
TPR detailed that the scam, in which the victims transferred about £55,000 on average of their pension savings, would entail the lion’s share of the money to be passed to “mastermind David Austin who used it for his own personal benefit, to fund his businesses, pay others involved in the pension liberation operation, and enrich himself”.
In January 2018, Austin, Dalton and Barratt were ordered at the High Court to pay back £13.7mn they scammed and that judgment remains outstanding, the regulator added.
Austin was part of TPR’s investigation into the allegations, but died in 2019 before it completed, the regulator said.
‘Lives ruined’ by scam
Delivering his judgment, Judge Perrins said both Dalton and Barratt had acted as principal points of contact for victims, earned substantial commission payments, and were both aware that fraud was taking place.
He said: “What is most striking is the impact on others, which has been utterly devastating. I have read 13 victims’ personal statements, they each tell a similar story, which I’m sure is representative of all.
“People who had worked hard, saved for their future, and have been robbed of their financial security. 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.”
He added: “These are undoubtedly extremely serious offences in which each of you carried out the role of trustee dishonestly and, put simply, had you not done so, many people would not have had their lives ruined.”
According to Nicola Parish, executive director of frontline regulation at TPR, this is “a despicable case which highlights the devastating impact pension scammers have on their victims”.
She said: “Barratt and Dalton were part of a criminal enterprise that tricked hundreds of savers into transferring their hard-earned pension pots into scam schemes under their control.
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“In their role as trustees, the pair enabled millions of pounds to be taken from the schemes and channelled offshore, where it was used to enrich others involved in the criminal enterprise and to profit themselves.”
Parish argued that the “prosecution and substantial custodial sentence sends a clear message that TPR and the courts will take tough action against fraudsters”.
“Our successful extradition of Barratt from Spain also shows there’s no haven for scammers,” she noted.
