Ex-Langbar boss jailed for ‘fraud on grand scale’

Langbar “lost” the money in 2005 at a time when the company was run from Yorkshire by ex-Baker Tilly financier Mr Pearson.

Yesterday the Serious Fraud Office said Mr Pearson was found guilty of three counts of making misleading statements by falsely claiming the company had assets held by Banco do Brasil and also that some assets were being transferred to the company. The SFO said these claims were designed to paint the company as an attractive investment and boost its share price.

Mr Pearson was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment and disqualified from acting as a director of a company for five years.

SFO director Richard Alderman said: “This was fraud on a grand scale with scant regard for the essential integrity of the financial markets or for the inevitable losses and misery caused to the investors.” The SFO said it could not say how many victims were affected but they range from institutional investors to private investors who lost millions of pounds.

When Mr Pearson was drafted in to take over the original company, Crown Corporation, he changed its name to Langbar, after a small village near Ilkley.

In September 2005, the SFO said Mr Pearson issued two announcements which he knew to be misleading, false or deceptive or was reckless in issuing them.