Such was the force of the three violent blows that Jeffs inflicted on his client, police initially thought Mr Troyan had been shot.
The vicious and calculating murder was believed to have taken less than 15 minutes, and was in sharp contrast to Jeffs’ outward demeanour, with a former boss calling him a “nice guy” who was happy to laugh at his own expense.
A spokesman for his most recent employer HFM Columbus added that he was an “ordinary, mild-mannered, unassuming and modest man”, who undertook considerable charity work. But he was also someone who lied about his qualifications, culminating in a warning by HFM in 2012.
Jeffs was born on 29 January 1977 at Edgware General Hospital in Hendon, London, to mother Joyce and father Robert, an ambulance driver.
After a period living in a humble flat at Westhorne Gardens in Edgware, he eventually moved with his parents to Peterborough.
Jeffs’ teenage and student years were spent in a modest semi-detached house on Abbey Road in Peterborough, in a stable family home with his parents and brother Paul. He attended the now defunct Walton Comprehensive, a mixed secondary school, which closed in 2007.
Jeffs would regularly return home to his family while attending Brunel University, where he studied film and TV. He graduated in 2000, eventually moving out of his parents’ home in 2002.
He eventually settled in Woking, Surrey, with his first wife, Laura, the mother of his six-year-old son, and was employed as a paraplanner at London-based advisory firm Cavendish Ware in 2004.
His marriage came under strain after his first wife suffered bad health, but his boss at the time never saw any signs of violence.
Adrian Ware, Jeffs’ former chief executive at Cavendish Ware, called him a “capable guy, very confident” and an “interesting character”, who was eventually promoted to trainee investment adviser level in 2005 and a full investment adviser in 2006.
Indeed, Jeffs was known to laugh along with jokes at his expense at Cavendish Ware, with Mr Ware noting a running joke between him and his colleagues that centred on how his wife – who was then working for a large consultancy firm – would earn the money while he would spend it. He said: “He had a James Bond image of himself, but he always took the joke in good spirits.”
Signs
But early signs of his eventual downfall were becoming evident. While not being outwardly greedy, his former boss said Jeffs could be described as a “materialistic and vain man”, who “liked living the high life” and, despite being married, had a “sizeable ego, fancied himself as a ladies’ man and definitely liked the idea that others would see him as ‘a player’”.
This was borne out by his attendance at high-end strip joints, such as Spearmint Rhino, which he visited on his stag night.
It is understood he had spent £19,500 in one night at the London-based club, although when asked whether Jeffs had a favourite dancer there, a spokesman for Spearmint Rhino declined to comment.
Mr Ware said Jeffs had a penchant for sharp clothes and champagne, and despite thinking of him as quite a “nice guy”, believed, on reflection, that his taste for the high life “was a fairly large part of his character and his weakest point, and probably what eventually led him down the path he went”.
While having no convictions for any violent crimes, it transpired that Jeffs had been punished for plagiarism after ‘borrowing’ an essay at university. Court evidence also revealed he had lied about his financial qualifications.
An FCA spokesman confirmed it had not received any complaints against Jeffs during his time as an adviser, but it emerged that he informed HFM Columbus that he had taken and failed the Chartered Insurance Institute’s R04 exam, when in fact he had not attended.
Jeffs booked and paid for the R02 and R03 exams in September 2012, and told HFM he had failed all four R02 exams but passed R03. But it later transpired that he had never taken R02 and had not passed R03.
Taxes
Jeffs is also under investigation by HMRC for more than £200,000 in unpaid tax, and told police he had not filed tax returns for more than six years.
He left Cavendish Ware in August 2006 to set up his own advisory firm based in leafy Richmond, Surrey, called Carleton Independent Financial Consultants.
Mr Ware said he left his firm under “slightly difficult terms” after taking clients with him, leaving a “bad taste after we had spent so much time nurturing him”.
It is understood that Jeffs targeted the gay community while running Carleton, together with his business partner, chartered accountant Michael Lansdell, who now runs London-based firm Lansdell & Rose. Mr Lansdell declined to comment, however it was while running Carleton that Jeffs first met Mr Troyan and began advising him.
Jeffs dissolved the business and joined HFM Columbus in May 2009, once again taking clients, including Mr Troyan, with him. The firm’s last published accounts registered a post-tax profit of £54,354 according to Companies House.
Mr Troyan was then registered as a HFM Columbus client, but the firm was not aware Jeffs had arranged secretly to work for him as a “financial concierge”, earning an additional £1000 a week to fund his lavish tastes.
He met his second wife Cheri, an English teacher who had worked at Wilmington Enterprise College in Kent, at a friend’s wedding and married her just a few months before murdering Mr Troyan.
From the start of 2013 the couple lived in a detached rented property in a smart Nottingham street and, to casual onlookers, had a good lifestyle, with Jeffs driving what was his second Lotus car. He enjoyed music, buying a number of expensive guitars, and took a number of lavish holidays to places such as Mauritius and Ibiza.
A neighbour who spoke to Financial Adviser described Jeffs as a “nine-bob millionaire” who was “stuck up” but kept himself to himself. He added: “He never acknowledged me when I said, ‘Good morning’.”
However, none of this cash-splashing lifestyle had been evidenced by his colleagues at HFM Columbus, a spokesman for the firm said.
He commented: “Nothing in his employment references, or in regular and ongoing credit checks, highlighted any concerns about his character, integrity or financial position. We were therefore completely shocked when David was charged.”
He said that colleagues had “reacted in disbelief” at the subsequent revelations about his actions and lifestyle, which were only uncovered as part of the police investigation, adding “it just didn’t fit the character we knew at all”.
An FCA spokesman said Jeffs’ role as Mr Troyan’s “financial concierge”, while he was still a client of HFM, could have represented a conflict of interest if it were not adequately managed.
Broke
Yet despite the fraud, police said Jeffs’ exorbitant spending habits meant there was no money left in his account by 8 March 2013, when he had the fateful meeting with Mr Troyan.
When arrested, Jeffs’ high-spending lifestyle meant he had less than £10 in his savings account and a “normal amount” in his current account, according to Inspector David Reid of the Metropolitan Police’s homicide command. Officers also found 2.33g of the drug MDMA (also known as ecstasy) in his car.
Ms Jeffs was not available for comment, but in court she described him as caring, loving, dependable, trusting, valiant and gregarious.
She has now moved out of the house they rented in Nottingham, which has been reoccupied by its owner. It is not known where she is now living.
This Walter Mitty character “had showed no remorse”, Insp Reid added, as Jeffs continued to deny any involvement in the murder, even though he was due to meet Mr Troyan on the day of his death and there was strong CCTV, bank and forensic evidence linking him to the crime.
On his conviction at Croydon Crown Court in December last year, Mr Justice Singh said Jeffs was “in a position of trust” and chose to take advantage of his client to line his own pocket.
The police have now begun an asset confiscation investigation and are scheduled to return to court in April this year. Jeffs must serve a minimum of 22 years in prison.
NOTE: The Institute of Financial Planning has asked us to point out that Jeffs has never been a member.
