Three directors admit to running tree planting fraud, using stolen pension funds to buy mansions at Sandbanks, Ferraris and Maseratis, and holidays to the Maldives
Just days before the trial was due to start, Matthew Pickard, 56, Stephen Greenaway, 47, and Paul Laver, 47, all from Bournemouth and former directors of Ethical Forestry Limited, pleaded guilty to fraudulent trading at Southwark Crown Court on 16 January 2026.
The investigation was led by Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and started seven years ago in March 2017, focusing on the three directors of Ethical Forestry, which had collapsed in January 2016 after the investment scam began to unravel. They were also investigated at the time by HMRC for up to £14m in tax avoidance in 2015 before the company went bust.
Following the guilty pleas, the SFO said: ‘£2.77m worth of investor monies were diverted and used to administer a tax avoidance scheme for the directors’ own benefit’.
Ethi
