A date has been set for the sentencing of two people charged in connection with a multi-million-pound pension fraud.
Alan Barratt, 62 of Burnham Road, Althorne, Essex, and Susan Dalton, 66, of Brookdale, Rochdale, Lancashire, will appear at Southwark Crown Court to be sentenced on Friday 22 April.
The case is being prosecuted by The Pensions Regulator (TPR). Both defendants have admitted charges of fraud by abuse of position in breach of section 4 of the Fraud Act 2006 arising from their roles as trustees of pension schemes. At Southwark Crown Court today His Honour Judge Perrins adjourned the case for sentencing.
Between 2012 and 2014, 243 savers were persuaded to transfer their pension savings – totalling £13.6 million – into 10 pension schemes under the control of Dalton and Barratt. Those funds were then dissipated by the defendants and almost all the savings were lost.
At the hearing today, TPR offered no evidence against Julian Hanson, 57, of Lea Road, Batley, who was also charged with fraud by abuse of position. A verdict of not guilty was formally entered by the court. Mr Hanson pleaded not guilty on a previous occasion. TPR said that while it remains satisfied the evidential test continues to be met in the case of Mr Hanson, after careful consideration it had determined that it is no longer in the public interest to proceed with the case against Mr Hanson.
Notes for editors
- The Pensions Regulator is the regulator of work-based pension schemes in the UK. Our statutory objectives are: to protect members’ benefits; to reduce the risk of calls on the Pension Protection Fund (PPF); to promote, and to improve understanding of, the good administration of work-based pension schemes; to maximise employer compliance with automatic enrolment duties; and to minimise any adverse impact on the sustainable growth of an employer (in relation to the exercise of the regulator’s functions under Part 3 of the Pensions Act 2004 only).
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