Man ordered to pay back £4.1m made from stolen cash

A man has been ordered to pay more than £4m after portraying himself as an experienced trader and using cash stolen from friends and family.

Jeff Arundell from Sion Hill in Lansdown, Somerset, was jailed for six and a half years in 2023 for offences he carried out in 2016 and 2017, including fraud and money laundering.

A Proceeds of Crime Act hearing On 19 December 2025 found the total amount Arundell, 75, had illegally benefitted from was £4.8m and a confiscation order was issued for £4,140,428.59.

More than £220,000 will go back to Arundell's victims and if he cannot, or refuses to pay the money, he will be receive a further eight years in prison.

The court heard Arundell had invited a friend to invest in a "guaranteed money making investment" in a pharmaceutical company with his friends' family members also investing a total of £108,000.

Although he made money from trading, he told his victims he lost the money with no way of paying it back, they reported the incident to the police.

Arundell was also found to have defrauded his mother, while he held power of attorney.

Det Ch Insp Carlos Filippsen, of Avon and Somerset Police said: "This is a significant result against an offender who was convicted of fraud and money-laundering offences in November 2023.

"The convictions and subsequent confiscation orders in this case show how we will pursue offenders who directly target victims, including stripping them of any assets they have gained through crime.

He said returning the funds to Arundell's victims shows "crime does not pay".

"I hope this will deter other criminals who may be involved in these despicable offences, by showing that they will be convicted and have their ill-gotten gains removed," Det Ch Insp Filippsen added.

Follow BBC Somerset on Facebook and X. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.