Joy for victims of historic fraud who'd lost hope of recouping their money
In one of the most notorious banking scandals of the past decade, HBOS manager Lynden Scourfield took kickbacks in return for forwarding business clients to a crooked consultancy firm that then plundered their accounts.
In 2017 he was jailed for 11 years and three months for fraudulent trading and conspiracy to corrupt and five others also got jail sentences - you can read about the case here.
Compensation has since been slowly paid to victims by Lloyds, which now owns HBOS, and among the recent recipients is John Gerard Metcalfe of Writtle, Essex.
Not that he’ll be seeing much of it because, in an ironic twist, Metcalfe is himself a fraudster.
The 65-year-old, known as Gerry Metcalfe, ran a supposed investment scheme to make money through a debt purchase business.
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But it was a sham and investors’ money was pocketed by Metcalfe and a sidekick, the pair netting almost £5million and squandering much of it on gambling.
Metcalfe was made bankrupt in 2013 and in 2017 jailed for six years for fraud.
Recently the Official Receiver, in charge of his bankruptcy, learnt from Metcalfe that he had been awarded £3.75million compensation from the HBOS bank scandal.
That triggered his own compensation order, made after his conviction, and his victims have now been repaid more than £2million.
Other creditors were also compensated and the tax on the award meant that HMRC got £750,000.
“Although this bankruptcy case dates back ten years, I am very happy both the victims and creditors are finally able to get their money back,” said Joe Sullivan, Official Receiver at the Insolvency Service.
“That is testament to the hard work of the team, and I am especially pleased in this case that John Metcalfe’s victims have been repaid after his appalling scam.”
Mark James-Dawson, Specialist Prosecutor of the CPS Proceeds of Crime Division, said: “This case shows that even when criminals have been convicted and sentenced, the CPS will continue to pursue them for their ill-gotten gains – even if they come into money years after committing their crimes.
“Our Voluntary Reparation scheme is a mechanism by which we can secure compensation for victims after the criminal and confiscation proceedings have finished, when further assets come to light. Through joint working with the police and Insolvency Service, we were able to recover significant funds from Metcalfe which will be used to compensate victims of this crime, money which they thought they’d never see again.”
Update 23/11/23.
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A previous version of this article stated that the Official Receiver in charge of Mr Metcalfe’s bankruptcy learnt that he had received £3.75million compensation from the HBOS bank scandal. We would like to clarify that the Official Receiver learned this as a result of Mr Metcalfe contacting the Crown Prosecution Service and Official Receiver with this information.
The article also stated the taxpayer got £750,000. We now understand that this amount was the tax payable in respect of the compensation award. We are happy to clarify this.
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