Cayman Islands fund manager convicted over role in £100m ‘no win, no fee’ investment fraud
The founder of a Cayman Islands investment fund, that bankrolled ‘no win, no fee’ lawsuits, has been convicted of using a complex network of overseas trust to defraud investors of millions.
Timothy Schools, investment manager at the Cayman Islands headquartered Axiom Legal Financing Fund, used investors cash to fund his luxury lifestyle, that saw him buy a £5m fishing and shooting estate in the Lake District and shares in a luxury ski hotel in France.
The litigation fund manager secured more than £100m in investment from around 500 investors, by claiming their funds would be paid out to a panel of high-quality law firms and used to finance ‘no win, no fee’ legal cases that were likely to secure returns.
Instead, the funds were siphoned off to just three law firms – ATM, Ashton Fox, and Bracewell’s – all of which were owned or part-owned by Schools himself.
The convicted fraudster later laundered money paid out by investors through a network of offshore companies and bank accounts in various jurisdictions including Panama, the Marshall Islands, and the Isle of Man.
The investment fund manager then used the millions taken from investors to bankroll his own luxury lifestyle, that saw the 61-year-old use an offshore company to buy a motor boat, luxury cars, and expensive properties in the Lake District and France.
Lisa Osofsky, director of Serious Fraud Office (SFO), said: “Mr Schools deliberately abused his position of trust to enrich himself. Through a complex web of lies, he attempted to hide his fraudulent activity, while spending other people’s hard earned money.”