Notorious fraudster Gerald Smith is accused of hiding assets and using a strawman.

A former GP Gerald Smith, 69, who became one of Britain’s most notorious fraudsters, has been accused of repeatedly breaching orders to repay the money stolen from Izodia through lavish spending. This included holidays in Dubai, Hong Kong, Vancouver, and the Maldives, 105 trips on a private jet in a single year, and buying cars, including a Porsche, a Bentley Continental, and an Aston Martin. He also tried to purchase fine art, including works by Renoir, Matisse, and Rodin.

Gerald Smith's tainted past includes:-

• 1993 Smith’s criminal record dates back to 1993, when he was jailed for two years for taking £2 million from the pension fund of Farr Group, a construction company.
• In 2006, Dr Gerald Smith was jailed for eight years for scamming over £34million from IT company Izodia. The theft caused the collapse of the stock market-listed company, and shareholders lost all their investments. He was ordered to pay back nearly £41million and, according to the Serious Fraud Office, the total amount owed has risen with interest to more than £82million.
• In 2023, Dr Gerald Smith was jailed over a £50,000 Covid bounce-back loan scam, which he used to service an enormous debt from historic frauds
• October 2024 During a hearing at the High Court, Smith, who was representing himself, said Dr Morris was one of his oldest friends and had allowed him to live in one of his properties while he went through a ‘very difficult divorce’.

Back in court October 2024

1. Gerald Smith, 69, is accused of concealing ownership of three central London apartments to avoid paying £80 million. It is alleged he concealed assets by having a top surgeon friend sign them over to offshore trusts he controlled; court hears
2. Today, The fraudster was brought to the High Court from Brixton prison in south London. Smith had been jailed in September for 18 months for his most recent fraud, which involved taking out a £50,000 Covid business bounce-back loan from the government.
3. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) obtained a court order requiring Smith to repay nearly £41 million—the most significant order ever made in criminal proceedings. The amount owed with interest has since risen to £80 million.
4. After being released from prison, Smith was eventually allowed to spend £2,000 a month on living expenses but overspent by almost £15,000 during the two years to January.
5. Investigators discovered that he spent more than £6,000 on visits to Michelin-star restaurants and celebrity haunts in the West End of London, including the
• Delaunay, Scott’s, Soho House, 45 Jermyn St, Royal China, The Ivy Asia and the bars at The Connaught and Claridge’s.
• He also dined at leading restaurants in Jersey and Mallorca.
6. The court was told that Smith had used family, friends and offshore companies to conceal his assets from investigators.
7. On Tuesday, Smith, representing himself, told the court: “I accept that money went into these [bank] accounts from my brother [Anthony]. Whether that money ever became mine or remained my brother’s is unclear. It is very technical.
• “My behaviour with the SFO was completely transparent.
• I unreservedly apologise to the SFO and the court if I have unwittingly committed contempt.”
8. The court was told that Smith attempted to prevent the seizure of three apartments he owned in Bloomsbury, central London.
9. He tricked a friend from medical school, Dr Richard Morris, into claiming to have the legal right to one of the apartments and then “installed two young women” in the property to continue the deceit, the court was told.
10. Kennedy Talbot KC, representing the Serious Fraud Office, told the high court:
• “It is hard to say when Dr Smith is doing this. He may enjoy the fight, disagree with the judgment, and be trying to negotiate a new settlement.”
11. Mr Justice Henshaw reserved his judgment on the three alleged contempts of court.

Source

• Daily Mail 👉 https://ow.ly/XmpB50TWWQA https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14017069/Notorious-fraudster-owes-taxpayers-concealed-assets.html
• The Times [paywalled] 👉 https://ow.ly/Tfv550TWWQ0 https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/fraudster-spent-6k-eating-out-while-owing-taxpayer-millions-cwfc28930