Ex-HBOS banker 'sold soul to devil' for part in 拢245m loan scam
Consultant David Mills used holidays and sex parties to bribe HBOS manager Lynden Scourfield in a fraud that left firms bankrupt.
Thursday 2 February 2017 19:56, UK
A group of financiers have been jailed for their part in a 拢245m scam after being convicted of bribery and corruption.
The six, including a senior banker, have been sentenced to a total of 47 years and 9 months in prison.
Between 2003 and 2007, finance consultant David Mills, 59, used designer watches, exotic holidays and sex parties to bribe HBOS manager Lynden Scourfield, 54, to approve inappropriate loans for struggling businesses.
Mills, who was sentenced to 15 years in jail, and his colleagues were then able to charge the business owners significant consultancy fees.
Many of the firms went bankrupt as a result of the loans and some of the owners lost their homes.
Scourfield had been in charge of helping business customers who were facing financial difficulties during his time at HBOS, but resigned from the bank in 2007.
He was sentenced to 11 years and 3 months in prison for his offences.
Judge Martin Beddoe told Scourfield he had sold his soul to the devil.
He said: "You have shown not one shred of remorse. I don't know how Mr Mills got a hold of you. He is the devil to who you sold your soul in exchange for sex, for luxury trips with or without your wife, for bling and for swag."
He went on to tell Mills: "You are a thoroughly corrupt and devious man."
The others jailed were Michael Bancroft, 73, for 10 years, Mark Dobson, 56, for four-and-a-half years, John Cartwright, 72, for three-and-a-half years and Mills' wife Alison, 51, for three-and-a-half years.
Farmer Justin Riggs was one of hundreds of Scourfield's customers. He used to be one of the leading producers of free range eggs in the country and had plans to expand.
Ten years ago he was forced to sell 60 acres of land and slaughter all of his 12,000 chickens. As a result, his farm in Oxfordshire is now derelict.
He told Sky News: "Although I tried to negotiate a slight increase in overdraft facility, they just kept saying 'Don't worry Justin, it's a casual facility, we'll be okay, we'll see you through…'
"They didn't. All they did was lay more and more costs on me and increase the bank balance to cover their costs but left me with no spending money.
"A gentleman came to see me on the farm who I thought was going to help us take our business forward, but instead he came here to rip us apart."
One couple who were exploited by the group of financiers have devoted the last 10 years to uncovering the corruption.
Paul and Nikki Turner needed money to expand their record publishing business but instead fell foul of the fraud operation.
They told Sky News: "It's not until you realise that you're part of something systemic that you can start thinking we need to somehow do something about this.
"We did think it was just us, but it didn't take us long to find out there were lots of other victims."
Officers at Thames Valley Police have described the investigation as the most extensive and complex they have ever carried out, with more than half a million documents used as evidence.
Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner Anthony Stansfeld said: "This was not a victimless crime; the shareholders are largely pension funds, which most of us have a stake in, and companies which have been bankrupted, along with the livelihoods of their owners and employees."
Lloyds Banking group, which acquired HBOS in 2009, issued a statement saying the actions of those involved in the fraud bears "no reflection on the behaviours of the vast majority of the employees of HBOS at the time or in the group today".
They added: "While we have fully reviewed customer concerns raised previously, we will review any new concerns on a case-by-case basis taking into account any relevant new information from the trial."