A FINANCIAL adviser dubbed as a “Walter Mitty fantasist” has been convicted of duping pension investors out of £1.3million.

Pension adviser Darren Say, formerly of Kestrel Road, Waltham Abbey, was found guilty at a second trial.

The 46-year-old conned scores of investors over six years that he could make a fortune from the development of a luxury villa resort in The Bahamas.

A jury failed to reach a verdict last October and a second trial was launched six weeks ago.

Twenty investors were among 40 witnesses who gave evidence, including one via live link from The Bahamas.

Say pleaded not guilty to one count of fraud between April 2010 and January 2016, by abusing his position as a financial adviser by acting against the financial interests of Noisnep Self Invested Personal Pensions (SIIPP) holders, in that he used money allocated in their names for his personal use.

He also denied fraudulently trading between the same dates relating to Noisnep Ltd. He is accused of using money allocated to Noisnep SIPPS for his own use by concealing from the pension holders and the pensions administrator, Stadia Trustees Ltd, namely that he was spending it on himself rather than investing it for clients.

The prosecution claimed Say bought 16 acres on Long Island, which he estimated was worth £100m once developed, but he didn’t move the project forward.

Prosecutor James Waddington QC said Say used the investment scheme he had devised as “a personal cash cow” and thought he could hide his conduct because the pension would not mature for decades.

He told the court : “This defendant has a touch of the Walter Mitty about him.”

He claimed Say - effectively a one-man band - couldn’t make good on his promises and lived beyond his means. He rented big houses, spent £350,000 buying land at Goffs Oak to build a home for himself and lost £250,000 on another property in Hainault Road, Chigwell.

The jury heard the Chigwell property was eventually bought and developed by television presenter and former The Only Way is Essex reality star Mark Wright.

Victims included members of his family - his wife Natalie’s father John Carr and her brother Bradley Carr - plus businessmen, bankers, accountants and independent financial advisers.

The jury heard that Say set up an investment strategy company called Noisnep - pension spelled backwards - and used the land to devise a mechanism for generating tax rebates.

Sixty clients invested their cash and their money was used as a loan which attracted tax rebates from HMRC.

It was said investors were unaware of the “loan agreements” and that Say spent all £1.3m, made up of £900,000 in tax rebates and investors’ own funds.

He also lied to pension trustees and concealed the initial investment in each SIPP came from the same £200,000 re-circulated via his own bank accounts.

Say’s company, Rodinia Global Property (Bahamas) Ltd, handled the investment of the pension funds.

In his defence, Say denied he had ever acted dishonestly and said his business model had been proven and financial regulators had accepted his formula.

It would still produce good returns for everyone, but he had been “stopped in his tracks” by the HMRC inquiry and going on trial.
“The figures are not mumbo jumbo. I know what I’m doing,” he insisted.

Say told jurors it was always “a corporate operation” and added : “If you only look at the transactions in the bank accounts you miss the picture and lead to the wrong conclusion.”

He said he only took a salary of £18-£28k and used “substantial” directors’ loans for day to day living expenses, which he intended to repay.
He will be sentenced on August 17.