Three men have been sentenced to prison for orchestrating a tree-planting investment fraud that devastated the retirement savings of approximately 3,000 workers across the United Kingdom.
Matthew Pickard, aged 55, Stephen Greenaway, aged 46, and Paul Laver, aged 47, operated Ethical Forestry Ltd from Bournemouth, a company that solicited investments in purported forestry projects located in Costa Rica. The trio extracted £70m from small investors before the enterprise collapsed during 2015, according to evidence presented at Southwark Crown Court.
The defendants financed extravagant personal expenditures using funds obtained from the scheme, including the acquisition of luxury motor vehicles and expensive holidays. Pickard received a custodial sentence of six years, while Greenaway was sentenced to five years and three months in custody. Laver's sentence was set at four and a half years imprisonment.
What did the judge say about the impact?
Judge Alexander Milne KC characterised the consequences of the company's failure as exceptionally severe. In his sentencing remarks, the judge stated that the directors' conduct constituted unlawful appropriation rather than legitimate business remuneration. He observed that although company directors are lawfully entitled to receive salaries and shareholders may receive dividends, the actions of these three men fell far outside such permissible conduct, describing their behaviour as systematic plunder of investor funds.
How were investors affected?
The collapse of Ethical Forestry Ltd inflicted substantial financial harm on thousands of individuals who had invested their workplace pension contributions in the scheme. These investors, numbering around 3,000, lost their retirement savings when the fraudulent enterprise failed. The scheme specifically targeted small investors seeking returns through environmental investment vehicles, exploiting their trust in the purported legitimacy of forestry-based financial products.
Key Facts
- Matthew Pickard, Stephen Greenaway and Paul Laver were convicted of defrauding approximately 3,000 investors through Ethical Forestry Ltd
- The scheme extracted £70m from investors before collapsing in 2015
- The defendants used stolen funds to purchase luxury vehicles and finance expensive holidays
- Pickard received a six-year sentence, Greenaway five years and three months, and Laver four and a half years
- Judge Alexander Milne KC described the conduct as "plunder" rather than legitimate business activity
