London Cypriot found guilty of fraud

A 41-year-old Cypriot born boss of an investment company was found guilty of fraud by a London court jury earlier this week.

Anthony Constantinou is estimated to have defrauded clients out of £70 million between 2013 and 2015 in a Ponzi-style scheme.

He was found guilty on Monday of fraud by false representation, fraudulent trading and transferring criminal property.

Constantinou, who had pleaded not guilty to all charges, skipped bail in April and the trial at London’s Southwark Crown Court continued in his absence.

The Cypriot-born man ran Capital World Markets (CWM), promised investors impressive profits of almost 60 per cent a year through trading in the foreign exchange market, which he convinced them were safe.

But the investors’ sums, ranging from £50 to £100,000 each, were instead used in advertising campaigns for the company, high-profile sponsorships on behalf of the company, including of Chelsea football team and boxing matches, and the purchase of luxury cars and motorcycles for himself.

Furthermore, investigators discovered he had spent CWM’s money renting a six-bedroom mansion and paying for private flights and lavish parties, including £2.5 million on his wedding in Santorini, Reuters reported.

He was arrested in 2015.

Recently, Constantinou was recently in Bulgaria with fake identity documents but was released and remains at large, the court heard last week.