Jailed: Wolverhampton financial advisor John Pearson conned customers out of thousands of pounds
A Wolverhampton financial advisor who swindled trusted customers out of a total of almost £400,000 by getting them to invest in fake businesses has been jailed.
Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
John Pearson, aged 72, was employed by a number of people, including hardworking families, between 2014 and 2023 to provide investment advice.
The fraudster would offer his victims, many of whom had known him for more than a decade, the chance to invest in the sale of a business, offering them a 50 per cent profit.
He promised them a high yield with no risk if they invested in the company sales, causing a loss to the victims of nearly £400,000.
Despite his promises however, the companies did not exist and the people were instead sending money directly into Pearson's bank account.
He would even send his clients a generic letter of agreement detailing the investment amount and when they could expect payment.
The majority of Pearson's victims were elderly people who thought they were investing in real businesses for real returns.
When confronted by a number of them, he admitted the whole venture had been a con.
Pearson admitted to committing fraud when interviewed by detectives. He told officers he had offered his clients the chance to invest in the sale of companies which never existed.
Having written the letters to clients on his own laptop, Pearson claimed he was "robbing Peter to pay Paul" and that the money he received was being used to pay other clients, who had also been duped into investing with him.
Pearson, of Westering Parkway, Wolverhampton, pleaded guilty to 19 counts of fraud in June this year and was sentenced to four years behind bars at Wolverhampton Crown Court on September 5.
Det Con Lynval Dell, from the West Midlands Police Economic Crime Unit, said: "This was an appalling abuse of trust from someone who many of his victims considered a close friend.
"Pearson would gain their trust by offering real financial advice before talking them into giving up their savings.
"He had no qualms about betraying their trust and taking thousands of pounds from them. Hopefully, this sentence will give the people he targeted some closure."
