Two GP Noble trustees charged in connection with £52m fraud

25 March 2010 5:01 pm | By Leah Milner

GP Noble was a subsidiary of the Money Portal, which went into administration last year, and GP Noble trustees Graham Pitcher (born 3 April 1961) of Bury St Edmunds and Gary Cordell (born 15 May 1968) of Nottingham are to appear before City of London Magistrates Court on April 6 2010.

One of the nine pension schemes affected was that of IFA firm Berry Birch & Noble.

The offences relate to a period between 2007 and 2008 when they were employed by the independent trustee company GP Noble Trustees Limited in Nottingham.

This case was referred to the Serious Fraud Office in July 2008 by The Pensions Regulator.

Also in July 2008, TPR appointed Independent Trustee Services Limited to manage the nine affected pension schemes in place of GP Noble which, together with Graham Pitcher and Gary Cordell, was suspended by TPR from acting as trustees.

Searches, arrests and interviews were carried out on 20 and 22 August 2008 with the assistance of officers from Nottinghamshire Police and City of London Police.

Pitcher and Cordell are charged with conspiracy to defraud the beneficiaries of the affected schemes, theft, fraud and abuse of position and money laundering.

The nine schemes affected are:

• Berry Birch & Noble Staff Pension Fund
• Cuthbert Heath Family Security Plan
• Hill and Tyler Pension & Assurance Scheme
• R Taylor and Son (Orthopedic) Ltd Pension Fund
• The Alenoy Limited Pension & Assurance Scheme
• The Melton Medes Group Pension & Life Assurance Scheme
• The Ravenhead Company Pension Plan
• Venson Pension & Life Assurance Scheme
• The BDC Pension Scheme

 

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