Overview
- Matthew Pickard, Stephen Greenaway and Paul Laver pleaded guilty to fraudulent trading for running Ethical Forestry Ltd, a Bournemouth firm that marketed tree-planting investments to company pension holders.
- Prosecutors say the company took about £70m from investors but largely failed to maintain Costa Rica plantations or build harvesting infrastructure needed to generate legitimate returns.
- Court evidence described a Ponzi-style pattern where early payments branded as harvest dividends were actually funded by new investors’ money.
- The prosecution told the court the three extracted roughly £14m via a tax-avoidance scheme and spent it on high-end sports cars, expensive holidays and jewellery while hiding assets from clients.
- Sentencing at Southwark Crown Court followed guilty pleas and investigators from the SFO are expected to pursue proceeds-of-crime recovery and further redress for victims.