Fraudster jailed over £11.5m scam targeting elderly

A fraudster who stole millions of pounds from 115 victims in a scam targeting elderly people has been jailed for eight years and four months.

Steven Long, of Mead Road, in Stowmarket, Suffolk, ran several businesses under the banner of the Ipswich-based Universal Wealth Preservation (UWP).

The 59-year-old invested the savings of his customers in unsustainable high-risk schemes without their knowledge, resulting in losses of £11,577,762.

Long pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud by abuse of position before being jailed at Southwark Crown Court in London.

His business associate and co-defendant, Raymond Simpson, who lives in Portugal, was sentenced to five and a half years for the same offences.

Simpson was tried and convicted in his absence and a warrant for his arrest has been issued.

Judge Gregory Perrins said: "No sentence I impose today will feel long enough to those who have suffered so much."

The pair's offending between 2008 and 2018 was revealed after Long's wealth management business group UWP collapsed in 2018.

Homeowners of or near retirement age across several counties including Essex, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Kent, were lured in by marketing seminars, which offered to manage and protect trust funds for inheritance planning.

But Long and "respected" independent financial adviser Simpson instead ploughed their money into "increasingly reckless investments", the court heard.

Of the £11.5m loss, 79-year-old Simpson had defrauded £785,380 through investments and £615,000 by buying land in Spain.

But during the sentencing hearing, prosecutor Charlene Sumnall told Long that he was ultimately responsible for the loss of money.

The court was also told that a holiday to Mexico enjoyed by Long and his then-wife Melanie was paid for with the funds, as well as a timeshare property.

Perrins added: "Your offending has taken a very heavy toll on the lives of so many and you should feel deeply ashamed."

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