Four people who ran a series of scam pension schemes have been ordered to pay back £13.7m they took from their victims.

David Austin, Susan Dalton, Alan Barratt and Julian Hanson squandered the money after 245 members of the public were persuaded via cold-calling and similar techniques to transfer their pension savings into one of 11 scam schemes operated by Friendly Pensions Limited (FPL).

Victims were told that if they transferred their pension pots to the schemes they would receive a tax-free payment commonly described as a commission rebate from investments made by the pension scheme – a form of pension scam.

Today, the High Court ruled that Austin, Dalton, Barratt and Hanson should repay millions of pounds they took from the schemes over a two-year period.

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) had asked the High Court to order the defendants to repay the funds they dishonestly misused or misappropriated from the pension schemes – the first time such an order has been obtained.

Austin laundered funds from the schemes into his bank account and the accounts of family members in the UK, Switzerland and Andorra through a number of businesses that he had set up in the UK, Cyprus and the Caribbean, including FPL. TPR showed the High Court evidence of how members of Austin’s family had lived a life of luxury using the money – including showing off their spending on expensive goods, ski holidays and trips to Dubai and the Mediterranean on social media sites.

Dalriada, the independent trustee appointed by TPR to take over the running of the schemes, will now be able to seek the confiscation of the scammers’ assets for the benefit of their victims.

TPR’s executive director of frontline regulation Nicola Parish said: “The defendants siphoned off millions of pounds from the schemes on what they falsely claimed were fees and commissions.

“While Austin was the mastermind, they all took part in stripping the schemes almost bare. This left hardly anything behind from the savings their victims had set aside over decades of work to pay for their retirements.

“The High Court’s ruling means that Dalriada can now go after the assets and investments of those involved to try to recover at least some of the money that these corrupt people took. This case sends a clear message that we will take tough action against pension scammers.”

In his judgment, Judge Mark Pelling ruled that Austin had been the “mastermind” behind the scam and that all four of the defendants had acted dishonestly.

He ruled that Austin and Barratt were jointly and severally liable to pay £7,713,317.71 plus interest, that Austin and Dalton were jointly and severally liable for £5,900,947 plus interest and that Austin and Hanson were jointly and severally liable to pay £122,937.37 plus interest. The judge also ordered that the defendants must pay the costs of TPR and Dalriada on an indemnity basis.

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