An “evil confidence trickster” who swindled £4.5m out of his close friends by persuading them to remortgage their homes to fund his lavish lifestyle was jailed for more than five years today (28 May 2014).
Mortgage broker Rienzie ‘Joe’ Silva, 73, tricked elderly investors out of their life savings through a Ponzi fraud which spanned three decades.
He convinced customers who “trusted him with their lives” take out new home loans and plough the cash into an offshore account.
Mr Silva diverted the funds into a friend’s bank account and blew the cash on first class travel across the globe, luxury holidays, and gifts for his family in his native Sri Lanka.
The financial adviser even persuaded an Iraqi couple, who could not read or write English, to remortgage their home and hand him £1.35m to invest.
Three years later all the money had disappeared and the couple were left to pay £9,000 a month in interest payments on their loan.
Richard Jory QC, prosecuting, said Mr Silva’s victims have been left in “financial ruin” and have had to work well into their late seventies to make ends meet.
He said: “This case concerns the fraudulent trading which involved a number of investors, including those close to him, over 19 years.
“Over a period of time the calculated loss was in excess of £4m with at least 30 victims - that £4m figure does not reflect ongoing liabilities and debts including mortgage repayments on loans they were persuaded to extend.
“Those individuals were left destitute, suffering significant financial loss and have been left to work well beyond the period they wanted to work in order to meet repayments.
“Some have lost their life savings.”
Mr Silva cheated his victims out of their fortunes between 1991 and 2010 and used new investors’ cash to repay current customers in a Ponzi scheme so he could remain undetected.
He said Mr Silva used Abbey Brokers in Croydon, south London, as his “virtual fiefdom”, profiting at the very least £4.34m - but the true figure will likely never be known.
Mr Jory added: “He relied on his power of persuasion to reassure those investors their investments were safe and in their best interests, which wasn’t the case at all.
“Money was treated as the defendant’s own - once he received investments the money was transferred between accounts when he saw the need.
“He partially paid off investors with new investors’ cash. His actions have led to many investors in financial ruin and an uncertain future.”
In a series of victim impact statements Mr Silva’s former friends said they trusted the fraudster with their lives and described his deceit as “unimaginable”.
Pamini Santhiramogan, a student, said: “His vileness has ruined my plans as a radiographer, he is selfish and callous.
“His stealing, lying, and non disclosure has cost me dearly.”
Another investor, Christian John, said: “Joe is a pure evil confidence trickster with no morals.”
Leonard Smith QC, defending, claimed much of Silva’s criminal gains were used to pay off his debts.
He said: “It is a tragedy that a man of his age will be going to prison, not only in ill health, and with a substantial blemish to say the least at the end of his career, but with the destruction of many friendships over many years - which is really what this case is about.”
Many of Mr Silva’s victims were in the public gallery to watch the conman’s sentencing after he admitted two counts of fraudulent trading on the day of his trial.
Mr Silva showed no emotion as he was jailed for five years and three months by Judge Anthony Pitts.
Judge Pitts told Mr Silva: “The scale of the breach of trust is staggering in this case.
“Most of the victims looked up to you, admired you, and liked you.
“You were a friend and yet all the time you were running a Ponzi fraud and all the people who were the victims have felt betrayed.
“They are suffering real hardship and are suffering from stress and illness.
“But the knowledge that it is someone they admired and trusted that perpetrated this fraud against them for their own benefit is one of the aggravating features of this case.”
Mr Silva, of Friars Wood, Croydon, south London, pleaded guilty to two counts of fraudulent trading.
He was formally cleared of 42 counts of fraud by false representation, obtaining property by deception, false accounting, theft, trading with intent to defraud, and carrying on business with intent to defraud.
A confiscation hearing has been provisionally set for 14 January next year.
