Two prominent businessmen are among a group of investors swindled out of £1.5 million by a convicted fraudster in a get-rich-quick bullion scam, it is claimed.
Richard Powell and Andrew Hughes- Hallett are seeking damages at the High Court against Christian Fallon, claiming he promised to invest their cash in gold bullion and foreign currency markets but just pocketed it.
Two other men, David Higgins and John Cornforth, are claiming they were also defrauded. The sums given to Fallon to invest were £600,000 by Higgins, £425,000 by Hughes- Hallett, £300,000 by Cornforth and £225,000 by Powell, it is claimed.
Fallon, from Newmarket in Suffolk, claimed to be an expert in trading gold, particularly in relation to the Bank of England, the writ says.
He also vowed he could obtain gold below the market price so his scheme, run under the name QFX traders, was risk-free. The court papers, seen by the Standard, say: “The claimants became acquainted with the defendant at various times between summer 2013 and February 2014 and the defendant sought to persuade them to invest in his foreign exchange business QFX and in the purported gold bullion invest/trading business.
“The defendant claimed he was investing £4 million of his own money. The claimants could expect profits in relation to such trading to be at least four per cent per month.”
Mr Powell, from the Isle of Man, said: “We cannot say anything while the legal process is ongoing but are hoping for a just outcome.”
Mr Hughes-Hallett is co-founder and director of London-based Arcadia Consulting. He is described on its website as “a development expert with over 20 years of extensive corporate experience across Europe and the Middle East”. He has a £1.5 million riverside family home in Berkshire but lives in London during the week. He declined to comment on the writ.
Fallon was convicted in 2002 and 2007 of fraud and since 1994 has been banned from acting in the investment business by the Financial Conduct Authority.
The claimants seek the return of their investments, alleging that he had not traded for them at all and just took the money.
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The writ claims Fallon changed his name from Christopher to Christian after fraud convictions. It says: “Under that name he had been convicted in 2002 and 2007 of committing numerous substantial frauds.”
The four investors conclude in their claim that “the defendant did not have experience in trading gold or other lawful investment and trading schemes but was instead experienced in the creation and/or operation of fraudulent schemes”.
When asked by the Standard, a Fallon family member said the accused was unavailable for comment.
