Ponzi scheme mastermind jailed for over five years

James Gillingham, 38, has been jailed for five years and six months for masterminding a £1 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded over 60 victims. The fraud, which ran between June 2015 and October 2016, saw victims promised guaranteed monthly returns of between 0.5% and 5%.

Gillingham’s “brokers” cold-called potential investors, using aliases inspired by television programmes such as Harvey Specter from the legal drama Suits and Jonathan Hart from the crime series Hart To Hart. The gang also claimed to operate from prestigious London addresses, including Canary Wharf and the Gherkin, to appear legitimate.

Investigators later discovered that the Canary Wharf office was merely a mail-forwarding address, and only one desk was leased at the Gherkin. None of the £1 million invested was actually used for genuine trading activity. Instead, money was used to pay staff, business overheads, and existing investors, a common characteristic of a Ponzi scheme.

Victims' losses

Over 60 victims collectively lost £1 million. The largest single loss amounted to £133,900. One victim, who invested over £35,000, described the investment as their “life boat” that ultimately became their “Titanic”. Another victim lost more than £45,000, setting their life back by five to six years, and felt “terrible” after recommending the scheme to family members who also lost savings.

Around £650,000 of the defrauded money was used to pay staff, with Gillingham himself receiving over £200,000 and his associate Sujanthan Sotheeswaran receiving over £70,000. Investors were paid £167,681 in supposed “dividends”, while approximately £170,000 was spent on office costs and other operational expenses.

Arrest and sentencing

Gillingham, who formerly lived at Hyde Park Gate in Kensington, left the UK in 2016 and remained abroad for several years. He was deported from Singapore in August 2025, having been convicted of an assault charge there, and was arrested by City of London Police at Heathrow Airport upon his return. He pleaded guilty to fraud, money laundering, and perverting the course of justice at Southwark Crown Court.

Judge Martin Griffith, sentencing Gillingham, stated: “I consider that it was your fraud and you handled the money.” He noted that the fraud required the continuous attraction of new investors to repay existing ones.

Three other individuals involved in the scheme, Sujanthan Sotheeswaran, Denis Deegan, and Darren Peck, were sentenced in 2024. Sotheeswaran received a three-year prison sentence, Deegan was jailed for two years and eight months, and Peck received a 21-month sentence suspended for two years.

Financial investigator Hayley Wade of City of London Police described Gillingham as the “driving force” behind the sophisticated fraud. Kate Hurst from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) added that while Gillingham’s sentence concludes a chapter, the victims continue to experience the consequences. The CPS will seek to recover criminal assets from Gillingham under the Proceeds of Crime Act to compensate victims.