RSS feedsOn 19 May this year, Geoffrey Alan Sills, 56, from Withermarsh Green, Stoke by Nayland in Colchester, Essex, pled guilty to 17 counts of theft and deception and asked for 93 similar offences to be taken into consideration following an investigation by the DTI's Companies Investigation Branch.
Sills ran a scheme known as the Investment Syndicate or Join Venture Programme, which promised to help ailing business through 'substantial investment' and by providing them with financial and management assistance to nurse them back to profitability.
In total victims lost £592,000 by joining the syndicate and from fees charged for business plans. £210,000 of this money was later refunded to a 'fortunate few' while the rest lost their money.
