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p>A corrupt former financial advisor has been jailed after stealing thousands from clients…
Geoffrey Fincher, 72, Altrincham Road, Wilmslow, who was previously the Director of two companies, including Cheadle-based financial advisor firm, SK8 Financial Services Ltd, has been sentenced to two years in prison. This occurred after he pleaded guilty to duping almost £200,000 from clients.
Investigations revealed that Fincher abused trust placed in him by keeping client money which was intended to be placed in investments.
Gary Simpson, Senior Crown Prosecutor with Mersey-Cheshire Crown Prosecution Service who worked on this case from its outset said: "Fincher cheated long standing and trusting clients out of thousands of pounds over several years.
"When his clients asked about their investments, he produced false documents to back up his criminality or offered to pay some of the money back.
"Many of his clients were elderly and some were friends but he callously took their money and used it for his own ends.
"It would appear that earlier in his career Fincher was law abiding. We may never know what made him turn to crime and ruin his name but his reputation is now in shreds and he has only himself to blame."
The alarm was raised after the daughter of an elderly couple, who were both long standing clients of Fincher’s, was unsatisfied with returns on some investments.
A separate financial advisor was referred to for a second opinion on the couple’s investments.
Following enquiries made two relevant firms, the advisor found that there were no records of any accounts with the companies.
The daughter of the elderly couple said: "Geoff Fincher had slowly wheedled his way into their life over the last 30 years becoming a friend and somebody they trusted implicitly to take care of their financial affairs.
"My mother is full of disbelief, aghast at his nerve, outraged and incensed as to how somebody could so easily dupe them - so terribly upset and so embarrassed as to her own stupidity, as she sees it. A very sad situation at her time in life when she had done her best to save for her children and her future."
The couple had enlisted in his services between 1984 and 2011.
Regarding the Cheshire Police Economic Crime Unit’s findings, DC Jackie Nolan stated: “It was discovered that Fincher had been abusing his trust and pretending to put money into investments, but in some cases had been keeping the money himself, which he had no authority to do."
After the Police investigated the matter in 2013, further victims were uncovered.
DC Nolan said that all but two of the victims involved in the case have since been reimbursed.
She added: “But the shock and disbelief has left them scarred by their experience.”
Mr Fincher pleaded guilty in a previous hearing to eight counts of fraud, seven counts of obtaining a money transfer by deception, two counts of theft and five counts of making or supplying an article for use in fraud.
He also asked for nine counts of similar offences to lie on file.
A corrupt former financial advisor has been jailed after stealing thousands from clients….
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