Richard Pope, from Hertfordshire, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in a Federal Court in Florida. He could now face up to 20-years in prison.
The hearing in Tampa came just months after the 53-year-old was extradited from Spain, having been caught following an appeal on the BBC’s Crimewatch after two-and-a-half years on the run.
Between 2004 and 2008 Pope was one of the leaders of an international crime gang that used a network of Spanish boiler rooms to ruthlessly target UK investors, many of which were found by City detectives to be the elderly and the vulnerable.
City of London Police worked with their US counterparts to uncover how the conspirators stole the identities of dormant companies and used high-pressure sales tactics to sell millions of pounds of worthless shares.
Mobilestream was one of the four businesses that formed part of the scam. Cold-callers sold it as an up and coming company when in reality it was just a worthless entity.
Websites and false press releases were used to give further credibility to the gang’s bogus investment opportunities that would ultimately account for at least 2,300 victims.
Many of them were left penniless, some even destitute. One individual was conned into handing over $1 million.
The stolen money was funnelled off into US bank accounts, where it was used to finance the boiler room operation and enjoyed by the gang leaders.
Pope spent millions of pounds on a jet-set lifestyle that saw him buy a plane and a sailing yacht.
His operation began to unravel when UK victims complained to their banks about investments made through one of Pope’s associates.
After being alerted in 2006 the City of London Police investigation identified a number of accounts containing stolen money, which led them across the Atlantic and finally to Richard Pope.
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