Former boss of collapsed investment firm jailed for illegally selling hot tub

The former boss of collapsed investment firm London Capital & Finance (LC&F) has been imprisoned for six months for contempt of court, after admitting breaching a restraining order by selling luxury items including horse saddles and a hot tub.

Michael Thomson’s actions were characterised by Judge Milne as an attack on the administration of justice. Thomson was sentenced alongside his wife, Debbie, who also admitted to the offences but whose six-month sentence was suspended for a period of two years.

The couple had previously admitted to recklessly breaching a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) restraint order by receiving a £2,000 holiday refund and selling items with a combined value of almost £5,800.

The former financier was already serving a suspended sentence at the time of the offences for an earlier breach, having transferred £95,000 to his wife to conceal funds from investigators, the SFO said.

The assets are subject to restraint proceedings as part of an ongoing SFO investigation into suspected fraud and money laundering at LC&F.

LC&F collapsed in 2019 after selling £236m of mini-bonds, which promised returns to investors of up to 8% a year. But little of the money went into safe interest-bearing investments, and instead funded speculative property developments, oil exploration in the Faroe Islands and even a helicopter bought for a company controlled by LC&F.

A further £58m was paid in commission to a Brighton-based marketing company that promoted the bonds.

In 2021 the government announced the details of a one-off compensation scheme for victims to supplement the existing Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). As of February 2024, the FSCS had paid out more than £173m, with £58m coming from the scheme’s usual industry funding and a further £115m from the government top-up.

To date, SFO investigators have said that the Thomsons’ actions have resulted in the dissipation of over £100,000 in assets.