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Three jailed for £10m Majorca Ponzi fraud Three jailed for £10m Majorca Ponzi fraud
(35 minutes later)
Two men and a woman have been jailed for cheating British ex-pats in Majorca out of £10m in a Ponzi scheme. Two men and a woman have been jailed for cheating British ex-pats in Majorca out of £10m, in a Ponzi scheme.
John Hirst, 61, of Huddersfield Road, Brighouse, was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court to nine years for his part in the fraud. John Hirst, 61, of Huddersfield Road, Brighouse, West Yorkshire, was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court to nine years for his part in the fraud.
His wife, Linda Hirst, 61, was told she would serve two-and-a-half years for money laundering.His wife, Linda Hirst, 61, was told she would serve two-and-a-half years for money laundering.
Accountant Richard Pollett, 70, of Poole, Dorset, was sentenced to six-and-a-half years. Accountant Richard Pollett, 70, of Poole, Dorset, was jailed for six-and-a-half years.
John and Linda Hirst enjoyed luxury holidays and lavish wedding celebrations in Las Vegas and Majorca with the proceeds of the Ponzi scheme. John and Linda Hirst enjoyed luxury holidays and lavish wedding celebrations in Las Vegas and Majorca with the proceeds of the scheme.
Ponzi schemes pay returns to investors from money paid by other investors rather than profits. Ponzi schemes pay returns to investors from money paid by other investors, rather than profits.
Judge Jonathan Durham-Hall QC said to Hirst: "You wanted it all - get rich quick. 'Get rich quick'
Hirst, a former insurance salesman, was convicted for fraudulently taking redundancy money from former Yorkshire miners in the 1990s.
He set up an eight-year Ponzi scheme with Pollett in Majorca, promising British people quick returns on their investments.
However, the money was not properly invested but instead was spent on financing a lavish lifestyle for Hirst and his estranged wife, the court heard.
Judge Jonathan Durham-Hall QC said those targeted by the pair were mainly ordinary, hard-working people who put their pensions and savings into the scheme after being promised huge returns and a risk-free guarantee.
Many were elderly or divorced and all were decent and trusting, he said.
Judge Durham-Hall said to Hirst: "You wanted it all - get rich quick.
"You had the greed and the desire for the high life, which overcame all morality.""You had the greed and the desire for the high life, which overcame all morality."
The judge told Hirst and Pollett: "You are through and through common criminals. What you did, and what makes this case of the utmost gravity, was brutal, callous and cruel. You are corrupt.
"This was an appalling and shocking course of conduct in which so many were targeted and so many have, in effect, had the remainder of their lives shattered and ruined."