James Gillingham, 38, of no fixed abode, the mastermind behind an investment scam that defrauded 74 people out of £1m in the early 2010s has been jailed for five and a half years at Southwark Crown court this week after pleading guilty to fraud, money laundering, and perverting the course of justice.

Gillingham had been out of the country for some years after he fled the country after the investment scheme collapsed in 2016. City of London Police investigators said ‘Gillingham left the UK after the investigation began in 2016 and remained outside the jurisdiction for several years’.

The court heard how Gillingham, along with three other defendants who were jailed in 2024, set up two schemes called Choice Option, and Blue Crest Capital Options, to persuade individuals to invest their money in binary options trading schemes with promises of fixed monthly returns and significant profits.