Three men are accused of spending more than £500k of investors' money
A man accused of fraudulently getting £500,000 from investors took elderly women to the bank to withdraw money and wrote cheques for them, a court heard.
Gertrude Hill, 92, and Gwendoline Snell, 85, of Devon, lost up to £80,000 having invested money with ex-financial adviser Lee Chapman, Exeter Crown Court was told.
Mr Chapman, 49, his brother Mark, 51 and Marc Payne, 43 face multiple counts of fraud-related charges.
The three men deny all charges.
The Chapman brothers, from Merton in North Devon, and Mr Payne, from Swimbridge, are accused of luring eight elderly people to invest £558,000 in worthless companies with links to Lords Cricket Club.
Charges
Mark Chapman - five counts of fraud and two of using fraudulent documents
Lee Chapman - four counts of fraud and three of acting as an unauthorised financial adviser
Marc Payne - two frauds and four of carrying on a regulated activity as a financial adviser without authorisation
Mrs Hill, from Torrington, was too frail to give evidence in person but the jury was played a video of her police interview.
The court heard she invested sums of £30,000 and £38,000 and at one stage was driven to her building society by former Prudential financial adviser Lee Chapman to take money out.
Mrs Hill said: "I trusted Lee with my life. I had known him for years and he always wrote out my cheques for me. I invested in the company because he asked."
Mrs Snell, from Westward Ho!, said she knew Lee Chapman from his days as "the man from the Pru" and when he asked her to invest money she agreed.
She said Mr Chapman wrote cheques, which she signed, and on one occasion drove her to her bank to take out £500 in cash to invest.
In total, she invested £17,721 but her two daughters succeeded in getting £5,000 back after going to Mr Chapman's home to confront him.
The trial continues.
- Published10 August 2015
