Financial advisors Alan Taylor, 37 (left), and his brother Russell, 36 (right) convinced more than 200 victims to invest in Vantage Trader Fund. They are pictured leaving Norwich Crown Court
Two brothers today admitting swindling over £17m out of elderly victims to fund their own lavish lifestyles — which included hiring private jets and boats.
Financial advisors Alan Taylor, 37, and his brother Russell, 36, ran the scam from their firm in which they persuaded retired clients to invest in a high-risk scheme.
They convinced more than 200 victims it would be safer for them to invest in the Vantage Trader Fund rather than through savings they already had.
Taylor and Taylor owned the fund and were therefore making money from these investments but failed to pass this information on to their clients.
The clients’ money was placed in ‘contracts for difference’ which were effectively bets on stock price movements.
The potential advantage was that large sums of money could be made with much smaller investments.
However there could also be significant losses, and left the victims with a future of financial uncertainty.
In 2015 several clients became concerned about the loss of their money and contacted Action Fraud, who passed the information on to Norfolk Police.
An investigation was launched but as the scale of the fraud became apparent, the case was passed to the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU).
Norwich Crown Court heard how in total, more than £17.2 million was invested in the Vantage Fund between 2008 and 2015.
The brothers spent their profits on hiring a private jet for more than £150,000, a boat worth more than £50,000 and an exclusive timeshare costing £260,000.
They also bought several expensive Patek Philippe and Rolex watches worth tens of thousands of pounds each.
Both men, who ran Taylor and Taylor Associates in Norwich pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud.
Detective Chief Inspector Liz Fernandes, from ERSOU, said: ‘This was a hugely complex investigation involving a total of 239 victims, who were conned out of around £17million in total.
The brothers spent their profits on hiring a private jet for more than £150,000, a boat worth more than £50,000 and an exclusive timeshare costing £260,000. Pictured: Russell Taylor (left) and his brother, Alan (right)
‘The Taylor brothers greatly abused the trust their clients had in them and invested their hard-earned money into a high-risk investment scheme akin to a roulette wheel.
‘All this was for their own personal gain – to fund their lavish lifestyle and tastes, with the brothers splashing out on purchases such expensive cars and even a private boat.
‘I’m pleased that both men have pleaded guilty, saving the victims the further trauma of having to give evidence in court.
‘We are determined to tackle criminals such as the Taylors who think that they can use deception to help themselves to other people’s money. I hope this shows that ultimately, crime will never pay.’
The pair will be sentenced at King’s Lynn Crown Court on April 30.
Speaking after their guilty pleas, Anamarie Coomansingh, of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said: ‘Alan and Russell Taylor took over their father’s business and used his client lists to target victims who trusted them to invest their money wisely.
‘The scheme they chose was not a surety to increase pension pots, as the Taylors told their victims, but was similar to gambling their clients’ futures on the spin of a roulette wheel.
‘One victim unknowingly invested £200,000 in the scheme and was left with just over half of that amount.
‘Others had to take up part-time jobs to help them through retirement as a result of the impact on their finances.
‘The CPS was able to show that the advice given by the Taylors to their victims was anything but honest and was instead designed to line their own pockets.
‘Faced with this, the defendants entered guilty pleas.’