A Liverpool, UK-based financial adviser has been jailed for five years for defrauding an elderly client out of more than GBP 300,000 and purchasing a villa in France.
53-year old Simon Sibthorp, a former investment adviser at Blankstone Sington, was found guilty of “deliberately taking advantage” of a client in the Liverpool Crown Court and sentenced to a five-year jail term.
Mr Sibthorp allegedly convinced his client, Rita ‘Betty’ Allen, to hand over GBP301,500 to buy a property in the Languedoc region of France on the Mediterranean coast.
"The prosecution say that this defendant was able to steal this sum of money by deliberately taking advantage of an elderly person,” prosecutor Kenneth Grant GC told the court.
"A spinster, who had trusted the defendant to act in her best interests financially and whose trust this defendant cynically betrayed."
Blankstone Sington dismissed Mr Sibthorp in November 2011 for gross misconduct after not disclosing loans from his client.
The regulator has banned a financial adviser for five years and cancelled his firm’s AFSL. The Australian Securities ...
The lack of visibility and consistent regulatory instability are stopping prospective talent from entering the advice ...
The introduction of Rhombus Advisory has caused a shift in the top advice licensees as Insignia separates its advice ...
Never miss the stories that impact the industry.
Get the latest news! Subscribe to the ifa bulletin