Crooked Shropshire businessman jailed for part in £35m fraud
A crooked Shropshire businessman who fleeced eco-conscious investors out of up to £35 million for bizarre "sustainable" bio-fuel projects in Cambodia has been jailed for six years.
Stuart Stone, 29, worked as an independent financial advisor for Sustainable AgroEnergy PLC with Gary West, 53, and James Whale, 40.
Passing sentence at Southwark Crown Court Judge Martin Beddoe said more than 250 investors of "modest means" lost between £30m and £35m between July 2011 and February 2013.
Stone, of Knockin Road Farm, Oswestry, was found guilty of two counts of bribery and one count of conspiracy to furnish false information. Stone was also disqualified from acting as a company director for 10 years while Whale and West were disqualified for the maximum period of 15 years.
Former director West, of Hertfordshire, was jailed for nine years for conspiracy to defraud and a further nine years for fraudulent trading to run concurrently.
He received a further four years per charge for one count of conspiracy to furnish false information and two counts of bribery all to run concurrently but consecutively to the nine-year sentence, making 13 years total. Whale, of West Sussex, was found guilty of one count of fraudulent trading and one count of conspiracy to defraud and received two nine year sentences.
