A man has gone on trial accused of committing a £12.9 million fraud by pretending to investors he’d place their cash in non-existent “high interest” bank accounts.
Alistair Greig, 66, is facing allegations dating between August 2001 and October 2014 at addresses in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Lincolnshire.
Prosecutors claim he carried out a “fraudulent scheme” and breached financial services and proceeds of crime laws.
Greig, of Boston, Lincolnshire, denies the allegations.
His legal team have lodged a special defence which states that other people were responsible for the alleged criminality.
They entered not guilty pleas on their client’s behalf during the first day of proceedings against him at the High Court in Edinburgh.
In the first charge, prosecutors claim that Greig “formed a fraudulent scheme to obtain sums of money”.
They claim the scheme was carried out between August 30 2001 and October 14 2014, at various addresses in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, and Lincolnshire.
The Crown says Greig carried out the allegedly fraudulent scheme by his “own hand” and “by the hands” of independent financial advisors that he “directed”.
The Crown claims these financial advisors were employed by or “affiliated” to a company called Park Row Associates PLC and to another firm called Midas Financial Solutions (Scotland) Limited.
It is claimed Greig pretended to investors he would invest their cash in high interest accounts with the Royal Bank of Scotland for “fixed periods of time”.
The Crown states he pretended to investors that the return of “capital and interest” was “guaranteed”.
It’s claimed he pretended the scheme was authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority and by its predecessor, the Financial Services Authority.
Greig also allegedly claimed that he was authorised by the FCA and the FSA to accept or hold deposits.
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The Crown claims he knew there were no high interest accounts with the Royal Bank of Scotland and the return to investors wasn’t guaranteed.
It’s also claimed he knew the scheme wasn’t authorised by financial watchdogs and they hadn’t authorised him to accept or hold deposits from investors.
The Crown also claims the “sums of money returned to said investors did not represent interest made on the sums of money deposited by them but were sums of money that had been deposited in the scheme by other investors”. The charge states by “such false pretences” Greig obtained a total of £12,982,789.23 by fraud.
The second charge states that between August 30 2001 and August 19 2014 at, various addresses in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Lincolnshire, Greig accepted a total of £13,082,263.51 of deposits into bank accounts held in the names of companies called Park Row Associates and Midas Financial Aberdeen.
It is claimed he wasn’t allowed to do this. The Crown say he did this by “his own hand and by the hands of independent financial advisors… directed by you”.
Prosecutors claim Greig’s actions breached sections 19 and 23 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
Prosecutors also state between August 30 2001 and August 19 2014, at various addresses in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Lincolnshire, Greig breached the 2002 Proceeds of Crime Act.
It is claimed he did “convert and transfer criminal property within the United Kingdom” and that he removed this “criminal property” from Britain.
The trial continues.
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