Court action to claw £21 million back from a convicted north-east conman who used his victims’ money to live a lavish lifestyle has been continued into next year.
The Crown is pursuing a proceeds of crime action against rogue financial adviser Alistair Greig who was convicted of fraud during a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.
The 68-year-old masterminded a Ponzi scheme that sucked in dozens of investors to place their funds in “guaranteed” high-interest accounts.
But the swindler spent his ill-gotten gains on top-of-the-range cars and expensive trips to English Premiership football matches and horse race meetings.
Greig, formerly of Cairnbulg in Aberdeenshire, conned clients and friends out of more than £13 million between August 2001 and October 2014.
He was jailed for 14 years in 2020, although the sentence was later reduced to 10 years imprisonment after an appeal.
Advocate depute Steven Borthwick told jurors at Greig’s trial that he had used money entrusted to him for investment as “his own personal slush fund”.
Prosecutors raised a proceeds of crime action against him, seeking to recover illegal profits and reckoned that he had made more than £21 million.
A two-day hearing aimed at dealing with outstanding issues in the action was originally scheduled for later this week.
But defence counsel Ronnie Renucci KC, representing Greig, today asked a judge at the High Court in Edinburgh to discharge the hearing and set fresh dates.
‘A very complex case’
Mr Renucci said it was “a very complex case” and fresh information had arrived before the last calling of the action from lawyers for a trustee in bankruptcy who was appointed.
He said: “Certain information was passed to the Crown which resulted in certain properties being removed from the available amount (for a confiscation order)”.
He said further investigations required to be made as Greig maintained that there was other documentation that was not currently in the lawyers’ papers.
Advocate depute Dan Byrne said the Crown did not oppose the discharge of the scheduled hearing but asked for time limits in the confiscation claim to be extended.
He said it was recognised that it was a difficult case but allowing further time might lead to resolution without taking up court time in an evidential hearing.
The judge Lord Stuart agreed to discharge the planned hearing and set dates for a further two-day hearing on March 23 and 24 next year.
He also fixed a pre-determination hearing for February 6 and extended the permitted period for the proceedings to the end of March.
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