A Shropshire couple who breached a court order amid a fraud probe have been sentenced. Michael Thomson and his estranged wife Debbie, both 53, were subject to the order as part of the Serious Fraud Office's (SFO) ongoing investigation into suspected fraud and money laundering at London Capital & Finance (LCF).
Michael was the former chief executive of the collapsed investment firm, where 11,000 investors lost more than £237 million between 2014 and 2019. He was already subject to a suspended sentence for a previous breach of the order for transferring £95,000 to Debbie in an earlier attempt to conceal funds from SFO investigators.
The restraint order is designed to preserve assets while criminal proceedings are pending. But the Thomsons received a £2,000 holiday refund and sold items – including a hot tub and horse saddles – with a combined value of nearly £5,800, Southwark Crown Court heard.
Michael admitted recklessly breaching the order on two occasions and was jailed for six months. Debbie admitted four breaches and was handed a six-month sentence, suspended for two years.
On Thursday (May 21), Judge Alexander Milne KC told the Thomsons that their actions 'were a contempt of court and the court has to take contempt seriously'. The judge said they had carried out 'reckless breaches rather than deliberate but it was effectively an attack on the administration of justice.'
He told them: 'However, reckless is in itself serious and what is clear is that this was another set of breaches resulting in the restriction of funds that were to be secured.'
Michael, of Market Drayton, Shropshire, is now unemployed. His downfall includes a broken marriage, no contact with three of his four children and he has suffered a deterioration in his mental health, the prosecution said. Regarding his mental health issues, the judge told him that he accepts 'there has been some deterioration but there is a limit to what the court can accept' in these circumstances.
Debbie, of Ellesmere, Shropshire, is now training to be a heavy goods lorry driver after she lost her job and home and separated from her husband as the case came to court.
More than £100,000 in assets has been lost by the Thomsons' actions, the SFO has said. Paul Napper, the SFO's head of proceeds of crime and international assistance division, said: 'The outcome sends a clear message that attempting to frustrate an SFO investigation carries serious consequences. We continue to advance our inquiry into LCF on behalf of the thousands of investors who lost everything through its abrupt collapse.'
