Patrick Coppeard, 49, a former managing director at Merrill Lynch, conned friends out of more than £5.4million in a Ponzi scam
A
retired City banker who cheated churchgoers out of millions in a vast
fraud told one victim over the phone: ‘God has told me to give you a
ring.’
Over
five years Patrick Coppeard collected nearly £5.4million, most of which
he blew in online gambling while trying to make up for losses.
When
he finally handed himself into police and was asked how much he had
left in his account, the former broker for investment bank Merrill Lynch
replied: ‘Zip-a-dee-doo-dah.’
The
married father of three, a former magistrate, has now been jailed for
six years after admitting a single charge of fraud by abuse of position.
He
had already moved out of his £1.25million house in Loughton, Essex, and
into a more modest home near Harlow. Victims, many left virtually
penniless by the scam, complained yesterday that the sentence was
‘pathetic’.
David
Jacques, 53, a fellow member of St John’s Church in Buckhurst Hill,
said he was phoned by Coppeard two days after selling his house.
‘He
told me, “David, you may not believe this but God has asked me to give
you a ring”,’ Mr Jacques said. ‘He guaranteed the money himself and
offered me 6 per cent interest.’
The power-wash business owner invested £50,000 before ploughing another £283,000 into the bogus scheme.
He
added: ‘I’d known him for 20 years from church. I knew he was a
financial man and a magistrate so I trusted him. I’m now saddled with a
£33,000 credit card debt … I think the sentence is pathetic for what
he’s done.’
Another
victim, former next-door neighbour Rob Smith, 50, said Coppeard had
been one of his closest friends before the ‘immense betrayal’. ‘We
thought we were investing into a share trading club and Patrick was
handling it on our behalf due to his experience as a stockbroker,’ he
said.
The
retired business owner added: ‘He had all the credentials – magistrate,
church warden, successful stockbroker … That’s why people trusted him.’
Coppeard
retired from Merrill Lynch in 2000 due to kidney disease and got into
financial trouble after losing £1million of his own money following the
banking collapse of 2007.
Many of his victims were parishioners
at St John's Church in Buckhurst Hill, Essex - the same church that
hosted the funeral of reality TV star Jade Goody in 2009
Coppeard has since moved out of his
£1.25 million six-bedroom house in Loughton, Essex, (above) to a more
modest property on the outskirts of Harlow, Essex
David Jaques, one of Coppeard's
victims, was told that 'God has told me to give you a ring' when he
started looking for an investment
In
a bid to recover his position he began persuading people to hand over
money which he used for spread betting and online gambling.
The
huge fraud, known as a Ponzi scheme, ran from January 2008 to May last
year and took in the church and 61 individuals, who handed over a total
of £5,356,497, of which £3,382,000 was lost.
Coppeard,
who resigned as a magistrate last year, managed to keep the scheme
afloat by making occasional payouts to some investors.
Days before handing himself in to police, in May last year, he was telling some victims he could double their money in days.
Peter
Gair, prosecuting, told Chelmsford Crown Court Coppeard ‘effectively
jumped before he was pushed’, adding: ‘In recent weeks and days he was
being chased by a number of his victims for payment.’
Victims
are likely to receive just 10p for every pound invested when a proceeds
of crime hearing takes place next year, the court heard.
Coppeard’s
wife, Irene, 53, is understood to be standing by him. Judge Anthony
Goldstaub told Coppeard: ‘You attempted to square the circle in a dead
market by spread betting and [online] casino gambling. This was always
bound to fail – the house having the benefit of the odds.
‘Upon
the good work you did and your excellence of character you constructed a
web of financial deceit … you trapped a mass of trusting and vulnerable
people … [who] believed in you and you brought them to financial ruin.’
Detective
Constable John Vickers said: ‘Coppeard preyed on his closest friends
and family for his own gain. He has devastated the lives of a
considerable number of people.’
A spokesman for St John’s Church said members were ‘distressed’ to see a fellow Christian in such a ‘predicament’.
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