Court sentences illegal deposit taker to three years in prison
09/12/2003
Guildford Crown Court has sentenced Doreen Muriel Fry of Camberley, Surrey to two years for obtaining monies by deception and one year for forgery, all to run concurrently, and a further year to run consecutively for perjury totalling three years' imprisonment. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) action was partly based on evidence gathered during a Financial Services Authority (FSA) investigation into illegal deposit taking.
Mrs Fry and her company Gemini Business Consultants and Services Limited (Gemini) committed the deception and perjury offences while taking in excess of 300,000 of illegal deposits from over 20 people. Individuals who lent money to Mrs Fry or Gemini were told that the funds would be used for various purposes including a project for the redevelopment of an old people's home or an overseas investment. None of the funds have been repaid and Mrs Fry is now bankrupt and her company Gemini is in liquidation. Mrs Fry has also been disqualified from acting as a company director for ten years.
Doreen Fry was jailed for two months in May 2001 for Contempt of Court by the High Court in London for breaching undertakings given to the Court to not make any false, misleading or deceptive statement, promise or forecast to induce the making of a deposit in breach of section 35 of the Banking Act 1987.
Andrew Procter, the FSA's Director of Enforcement, said:
"This is an excellent example of co-operative working between the FSA, the Police and the CPS in the fight against financial crime."
Notes for editors
Doreen Fry pleaded guilty to the following offences: obtaining a money transfer by deception, obtaining property by deception, using a false instrument and perjury.
Previous press releases related to Mrs Fry, issued in January 2001 and May 2001.
The FSA regulates the financial services industry and has four objectives under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000: maintaining market confidence; promoting public understanding of the financial system; the protection of consumers; and fighting financial crime.
The FSA aims to maintain efficient, orderly and clean financial markets and help retail consumers achieve a fair deal.