Luxury £1m Marbella penthouse owned by ‘Wolf of Wimbledon’ fraudster who conned elderly investors out of £70m is being sold to pay back victims’ losses
- Jeffrey Revell-Reade, 57, masterminded a £70million ‘boiler room’ operation
- The scheme conned hundreds of British victims out of their life savings
- Now a superb £1million duplex apartment he owned has been seized and sold
Jeffrey Revell-Reade, 57, masterminded a massive £70million ‘boiler room’ operation
A luxury Marbella penthouse belonging to a fraudster dubbed the ‘Wolf of Wimbledon’ has been sold to pay back some of his victims’ losses.
Australian crook Jeffrey Revell-Reade, 57, masterminded a massive £70million ‘boiler room’ operation from Madrid, conning hundreds of British victims out of their life savings.
He blew a fortune on yachts, mansions and private jet hire and was jailed in 2014 after being caught.
Now a superb £1million duplex apartment he owned has been seized and sold by investigators from the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), returning the proceeds to more than 200 victims.
The SFO’s seven-year investigation, codenamed Operation Steamroller, led to the successful prosecution of the fraudster who set up one of the largest boiler room scams in British history.
A boiler room fraud involves a business, often foreign, persistently pushing the urgent sale of over-valued or even worthless shares in a company.
A superb £1million duplex apartment he owned has been seized and sold by investigators from the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), returning the proceeds to more than 200 victims (pictured: The Marbella property)
A luxury Marbella penthouse belonging to a fraudster dubbed the ‘Wolf of Wimbledon’ has been sold to pay back some of his victims’ losses (pictured: The Marbella property)
The SFO’s seven-year investigation, codenamed Operation Steamroller, led to the successful prosecution of the fraudster who set up one of the largest boiler room scams in British history (pictured: The Marbella property)
Revell-Reade’s initial sentence of nine years and six months at Southwark Crown Court in 2014 was increased by a further four years in 2018 after he failed to comply with a confiscation order of around £7.5m.
Since 2016, the SFO has been pursuing the enforcement of Revell-Reade’s confiscation order, attempting to recoup his ill-gotten gains to compensate his victims, who have been repaid more than £3million so far.
Set within a five-star hotel, the three-bed, three-bathroom Costa Del Sol property in the Marina Puente Romano development boasts two large balconies with views of the Mediterranean, a plunge pool and marble flooring throughout.
While he fleeced his investors, father-of-two Revell-Reade spent £13,000 on Rolex watches alone as well as £54,000 on sports cars and motorbikes – as well as £72,970 on two pieces of artwork by the since shamed entertainer Rolf Harris.
At one stage he owned a luxury flat in Melbourne, Australia, three apartments in Marbella, worth more than £2.5m and four mansions in Wimbledon, including one worth £5m.
Revell-Reade’s initial sentence of nine years and six months at Southwark Crown Court in 2014 was increased by a further four years in 2018 after he failed to comply with a confiscation order of around £7.5million (pictured: The Marbella property)
From 2003-2007, a total of around £70m fraudulently gained from UK investors under Revell-Reade’s crooked scheme (pictured: The Marbella property)
At one stage he owned a luxury flat in Melbourne, Australia, three apartments in Marbella, worth more than £2.5m and four mansions in Wimbledon, including one worth £5m (pictured: The Marbella property)
From 2003-2007, a total of around £70m fraudulently gained from UK investors under Revell-Reade’s crooked scheme. Posing as stockbrokers, he and his accomplices operated from Madrid, selling shares in US-listed companies to British buyers.
Investors bought shares which had restrictions on their resale for a year. But when they tried to sell them, they found they were worthless, and that the shares were in shell companies or companies that were not operating at all.
The swindle is similar to the exploits of Jordan Belfont, played by Leonardo di Caprio in the Hollywood film Wolf of Wall Street.
After being informed of the latest compensation, a victim wrote to the SFO saying: ‘I dropped a tear, as being caught up in that boiler room scam has had and continues to have an impact on my life.
‘I don’t think anyone can even begin to imagine the overall impact, on the individual, these frauds cause.
‘I am so grateful to the SFO for pursuing and continuing to pursue these criminals across the different countries.’
Emma Luxton, Head of Proceeds of Crime and International Assistance at the Serious Fraud Office, said: ‘This result demonstrates our tenacity and commitment to ensuring victims receive the justice and compensation they deserve, no matter the complexity of the investigation or how many years have passed since the crime was committed.’
Source: Read Full Article
