Weavering Capital (UK) Ltd went into administration in March 2009. The company was an advisor to a Cayman Islands incorporated hedge fund called Weavering Macro Fixed Income Fund Ltd, which had funds of US$639 million under management in 2008.
An investigation was launched by the Serious Fraud Office in 2009 concerning interest rate swap transactions between the fund and a related Weavering company in the British Virgin Islands that had the effect of inflating the net asset value of the fund. The investigation was closed in September 2011 but was reopened in July 2012. Criminal proceedings were issued on 11 December 2012 by the SFO against Ulf Magnus Michael Peterson by written charge. Mr Peterson, 51, a Swedish national of Otham, Kent was the founding director of Weavering Capital (UK) Limited. He was charged with sixteen offences which are shown in the defendant's section below. The alleged offences took place on various dates from 2003 to 2009. Mr Peterson’s trial began at Southwark Crown Court on 13 October 2014, at the end of which he was found guilty of eight counts of fraud, forgery, false accounting and fraudulent trading. Mr Peterson was sentenced to 13 years in prison.
The outcome of the criminal case
Mr Peterson was found guilty of eight counts of fraud, forgery, false accounting and fraudulent trading. He was acquitted of one count of fraudulent trading and five counts of fraud by false representation. An additional charge (count 7) of furnishing false information was withdrawn from the jury by the judge prior to verdict and a formal not guilty verdict entered.
Sentencing
For each count that Mr Peterson was convicted on he received the following sentence: Count 1 – 2.5 years in prison Count 3 – 7 years to run consecutively Count 4 – 4 years to run concurrently Count 5 – 4 years to run concurrently Count 6 – 4 years to run concurrently Count 8 – 8 years to run concurrently Count 14 – 2 years to run concurrently Count 16 – 2.5 years to run consecutively
