Shinder Gangar, a lapsed ICAEW member and Alan White, an ex-ACCA member, were originally jailed for fraud offences following a prosecution brought by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in 2008. 

They were convicted of conspiracy to defraud offences and conspiring to corrupt an American official and were sentenced in April the same year to seven years’ and six months’ imprisonment.

Confiscation orders made against Gangar and White were originally set at £2,750,000 and £1,200,000 respectively, subsequently reduced on appeal to £2,289.974.03 and £686,996.81 in a hearing in 2012, with payment due that year.

However, to date Gangar has paid £67,712.11 and White £145,208.12 towards their confiscation orders.  As a consequence, Gangar was sentenced to six years and White, to three and a half years imprisonment for non-payment. 

Mark Thompson, head of the proceeds of the crime division at the SFO, said: ‘The criminals have had ample opportunity to pay the order and broke several promises they gave to the court. The activation of their default sentences should serve as a warning to others of the consequences of failing to comply with confiscation orders.’

Gangar and White promoted a fraudulent investment scheme through Dobb White and Co, a firm based in the Midlands, targeting UK and American investors who lost over $200m. 

There was no underlying trading in investments and thus the fraud depended on the constant adding of new victims’ funds to finance the payments of ‘interest’ to the existing victims.  Clients’ money was instead syphoned away including to provide unsecured loans to acquaintances; to purchase properties and spend on speculative investment schemes. 

In order to give the investment credibility, clients were told by the defendants that famous names such as Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Sir David Frost were investors in the scheme.  In court, it emerged that these claims were lies and neither had any idea that their names had been used in this way.