Truffle Farms and Pension Scams
David Austin, Susan Dalton, Alan Barratt and Julian Hanson of Friendly Pensions, were identified as the masterminds behind a £13.7 million pension scam and have now been banned from being trustees of pension schemes.
Funds raised were used to line the pockets of the trustees, with more than £10.3 million shunted into firms owned or controlled by ringleader David Austin, a former bankrupt.
The scam cheated 245 victims out of their pension savings after they were persuaded to transfer funds into one of 11 fraudulent schemes, which included a bogus Somerset truffle farm.
