Clients of fraudster adviser brothers could be in line for cash

Clients of two financial advisers who were jailed for defrauding customers out of millions of pounds could be in line for more compensation.

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme has already paid out nearly £5m in relation to the business run by brothers Alan and Russell Taylor.

Their Norwich-based firm – Taylor & Taylor Associates – was declared in default by the FSCS in 2015 and earlier this year they pleaded guilty to defrauding more than 200 clients of around £17m through Vantage Investment Group.

In a statement, the FSCS said Suffolk Police has secured a confiscation order against the brothers and said it will redistribute any funds recovered among affected investors.

The FSCS said: “If we have already paid you up to our maximum compensation limit, you could be entitled to a further payment from the confiscation order if your losses exceeded our compensation limit.”

It added that any investors who had not yet made a claim against Taylor & Taylor could still do so and encouraged them to contact the FSCS.

Investors who receive money from the confiscation order before contacting the FSCS can still make a claim if the funds do not fully cover their losses.

The Taylor brothers pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud in March and Alan Taylor was sentence to six years in jail while Russell was sentenced to five.

Norwich Crown Court heard the brothers invested around £16.7m of their clients' money through Vantage Investment Group without their clients knowing it was high risk.

The Taylors lied to the investors and put customers' cash into contracts for difference, where they bet on the stock market falling.

They also did not disclose to customers that they were the directors and shareholders of Vantage.

The brothers had inherited customers from their late father Richard Taylor's business and the court heard they were highly trusted by the investors.

Ann Lown and her husband Michael from Plumstead saw their savings halve in value after it was invested by the Taylors in the Vantage scheme without their knowledge.

"Our pension fund we had invested in was virtually wiped out," Mrs Lown, 63, said. "Both of us are still working now.

"The guilty plea was certainly most welcomed and will relieve all victims and their families from more stress and having to travel to court in King’s Lynn, but it is only the start of closure; there is a long way to go yet.

"For us, there is still a large amount of money outstanding which the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) will not cover."