Former Arck LLP partner Richard Aston Clay pleaded guilty on Friday (19 December) to three fraud charges brought by the Serious Fraud Office following a joint investigation with Nottinghamshire Police.
The investigation concerned the creation and marketing of various unregulated financial products which were made available to individual investors through IFAs between 2006 and 2012, the SFO said in a statement.
It is estimated that approximately £50m was invested in Arck products by individual investors and, in some cases, IFAs themselves.
Mr Clay’s business partner Kathryn Clark pleaded guilty in July and October this year to three fraud charges and two counts of forgery.
Jane de Lozey, joint head of fraud at the SFO, said: “This was a complex and thorough investigation involving financial products which appeared innovative but were in fact part of an elaborate scam.
“It is another example of the misuse of pension monies and highlights the vulnerability of investors to these types of frauds.”
The SFO and Nottinghamshire Police, assisted by the East Midlands Special Operations Unit, worked jointly on the investigation since May 2012, with additional assistance from the Financial Conduct Authority.
Sentencing is due to take place on 20 February 2015.
At Southwark Crown Court last week Mr Clay pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud, while it was ordered the remaining counts on the indictment should lie on the file.
Arck is now in liquidation, but was a Nottingham-based partnership that created and marketed property investment financial products.
peter.walker@ft.com
