A breast cancer patient was conned out of thousands of pounds from her health insurance by a man operating a “Ponzi-style” betting scheme.
The woman lost a £28,000 critical illness payment and relatives delayed telling her about the collapse of the scheme as she was undergoing treatment at the time.
Yesterday at Perth Sheriff Court Peter Plimley, of Craigdhu Road, Newtonmore, was warned he faces jail after admitting embezzling £228,359 from the woman and eight other victims over a two-year period.
Plimley, who was living in Kinfauns at the time, accepted money from them for investment and then pretended it had all been lost in a single transaction.
Victims of the retired chartered surveyor’s scheme included his brother-in-law, neighbours and his daughter’s boyfriend, who was also given commission for attracting other investors.
Roy Allan, of London, said: “We, his victims, now have a measure of closure after today’s ruling. For myself and those of my own immediate family who invested in Plimley’s scheme it has been a devastating experience, not just for the financial loss we suffered but the absolute and utter betrayal. His actions have split a family in two.
“Plimley is a ruthless and callous individual with no respect for others nor any regard for the impact that his actions have on others.”
The court heard the 68-year-old was operating a spread betting scheme and had made 42 losses and only three gains in 45 months.
He then tried to abandon the scheme by telling all the investors that the entire cash fund had been lost in seconds due to a market crash.
Depute fiscal John Malpass said: “The accused used spread betting to place bets on the currency markets on conversion rates of the US dollar against the Euro.
“He indicated that he had a trading strategy for this which allowed him to predict fluctuations in the market.
“Over a 45 month period the accused had three gains and 42 losses. He invested £178,393.70 and his losses were £162,365.91. He withdrew £16,596.96.
Plimley used cash given to him by later investors to pay back the capital of early investors, along with their “profit”.
Mr Malpass continued: “Four of the investors got their investment back, along with considerable profit. It could be inferred that the money was being recycled and used to pay these four — it was a Ponzi-style scheme.”
Plimley was formerly a property investor and landlord but his business has since entered sequestration.
His solicitor David Holmes said he had not sought to advertise his scheme but others were aware that it appeared to be working.
Sentence was deferred for reports.
