Two former GP Noble trustees have today been charged with fraud and abuse of position in connection with the alleged theft of £52 million of pension assets from nine occupational pension schemes (1).
Graham Pitcher (DOB 3 April 1961) of Bury St Edmunds and Gary Cordell (DOB 15 May 1968) of Nottingham are to appear before City of London Magistrates Court on 6 April 2010. The offences relate to a period between 2007 and 2008 when they worked as trustees whilst employed by the independent trustee company GP Noble Trustees Limited ("GP Noble") in Nottingham (2).
Graham Pitcher and Gary Cordell have today been charged with:
- conspiracy to defraud the beneficiaries of the affected schemes contrary to common law;
- theft contrary to section 1(1) of the Theft Act 1968;
- fraud and abuse of position contrary to sections 1 and 4 of the Fraud Act 2006; and
- money laundering contrary to section 327(1)(e) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
Background
This case was referred to the Serious Fraud Office ("SFO") in July 2008 by The Pensions Regulator ("TPR").
Also in July 2008, TPR appointed Independent Trustee Services Limited ("ITS") to manage the nine affected pension schemes in place of GP Noble which, together with Graham Pitcher and Gary Cordell, was suspended by TPR from acting as trustees.
Searches, arrests and interviews were carried out on 20 and 22 August 2008 with the assistance of officers from Nottinghamshire Police and City of London Police.
The SFO, together with Nottinghamshire Police have an on-going investigation.
Suffered loss?
Members of the nine impacted schemes have already been contacted by ITS about the underlying matters but if you are a member of one of those nine schemes and wish to speak to ITS about the issues raised in this press release in particular then please contact Hetal Kotecha or Chris Martin on 020 7173 2672 or 020 7173 2670.
Additionally, anyone who believes that they may have relevant information that will assist the SFO and Nottinghamshire Police is asked to contact the SFO on 020 7239 7388.
1. The nine impacted schemes are:
- Berry Birch & Noble Staff Pension Fund
- Cuthbert Heath Family Security Plan
- Hill and Tyler Pension & Assurance Scheme
- R Taylor and Son (Orthopedic) Ltd Pension Fund
- The Alenoy Limited Pension & Assurance Scheme
- The Melton Medes Group Pension & Life Assurance Scheme
- The Ravenhead Company Pension Plan
- Venson Pension & Life Assurance Scheme
- The BDC Pension Scheme
2. GP Noble Trustees Limited, which is now in liquidation, was part of The Money Portal Limited group of companies. The Money Portal Limited is now in administration.
