Two British bankers jailed over $3m investment scam

Two British bankers,Timothy Nicholas Goldring (left) and John Andrew Nordman were jailed for a total of 15 years on Monday, June 09, 2014, over a bonds scam in which investors lost more than $3 million. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW 
Two British bankers,Timothy Nicholas Goldring (left) and John Andrew Nordman were jailed for a total of 15 years on Monday, June 09, 2014, over a bonds scam in which investors lost more than $3 million. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW 

SINGAPORE - Two British bankers were jailed for a total of 15 years on Monday over a bonds scam in which investors lost more than $3 million.

Timothy Nicholas Goldring, 60, and John Andrew Nordman, 55, were convicted on 18 proceeded charges of cheating - involving $915,000 worth of investments - after a 64-day joint trial.

They were sentenced to seven and eight years' jail respectively. Both men plan to appeal.

Investors lost some $3.1 million in the Boron bonds scheme between November 2008 and August 2010. The two directors of land banking firm Profitable Plots promised 12.5 per cent in returns within six months.

The bulk of the money ended up being used for unrelated purposes and expenses, including paying off debts to investors from the firm's United Kingdom business.

A third director, Nordmann's wife Geraldine Anthony Thomas, 46, was cleared of the charges after District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt found no evidence to suggest she was involved in either the sale of the Boron investment units or Boron products.

A pre-trial conference has been fixed on July 7 for 68 remaining counts still outstanding.

The men could have been sentenced to up to 10 years in jail on each count of cheating.

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