A London jury on Tuesday indicted the directors of two companies behind a fraudulent green investment scheme in Brazil for defrauding nearly 2,000 investors worth 37 million pounds ($47 million).
Andrew Skin and Omari Powers have been found guilty of three counts of conspiracy to commit fraud and one count of misconduct during the liquidation of a London company, the UK’s Serious Fraud Office said.
Sentencing must be scheduled for Wednesday.
Timur Rustam, managing partner at the law firm Rustem Guardian representing Skeene, said he was disappointed with the ruling and that his client considers it an appeal. Powers’ lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment.
The two men presented Global Forestry Investments, which has created three Brazilian teak investment plans, as an investment scheme to protect the Amazon rainforest and support local communities.
But Lisa Osofsky, director of the Economic Crimes Bureau, said a seven-year investigation uncovered a complex web of remittances, fake documents and fake identities used “to deceive pensioners and savers under the false pretense of protecting the environment.”
The OCA, which said its team traveled to Brazil twice during the investigation, thanked the Brazilian Federal Public Ministry and other agencies for their assistance during the investigation.
Powers and Skane said on their LinkedIn page that they co-founded Global Forestry Investments about 15 years ago, buying land in Brazil for the “sustainable planting and harvesting of teak trees for investment purposes.”
The company claimed to have offices in Sao Paulo, London, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
“Friendly zombie guru. Avid pop culture scholar. Freelance travel geek. Wannabe troublemaker. Coffee specialist.”
