Suffolk conman targeted elderly to defraud them out of millions

Long was arrested in April 2018 and sentenced in December 2018 to eight months in prison for contempt of court for failing to provide information that would help track down his clients’ missing money.

At the hearing in the High Court he claimed he had little else but the clothes on his back and a bicycle.

He was later charged with two counts of fraud by breach of trust after causing 115 victims financial losses totaling £11,577,762.

Long pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court in March and on Friday He was sentenced to eight years and four months in prison.

His business partner, Raymond Simpson, believed to be in Portugal, was also sentenced to five and a half years in prison after being tried and convicted of two counts of fraud, one between January 1, 2014 and April 23, 2018, and the other between May 1, 2015 and April 23, 2018.

During sentencing at Southwark Crown Court, Judge Gregory Perrins considered 37 victim impact statements from extracts read by the prosecution.

The court heard Long left some feeling “guilt and shame”, while others said they hoped their deceased relatives would forgive them.

Jailing Long, Judge Perrins said: “Your offending has caused such grave damage to the lives of so many people and you should be deeply ashamed.”

He added that he “abuses the trust” of particularly vulnerable people “to keep your job so you and your family can enjoy all the benefits of wealth.”

Judge Perrins said Simpson aided Long by using money taken from trust accounts to “invest in a series of increasingly reckless investments”.