The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has launched an investigation into an entrepreneur who raised £80million from private investors to fund care homes.
The anti-corruption agency said it will probe allegations of fraud and money laundering against Gavin Woodhouse, who persuaded ordinary people to back his schemes to build care homes and refurbish hotels.
He promised handsome returns of around 10 per cent per year, leading some to invest their life savings, but many of the projects were never completed.
The Serious Fraud Office said it will probe allegations of fraud and money laundering against Gavin Woodhouse (pictured), who persuaded ordinary people to back his schemes
A Guardian investigation in 2019 found that three care homes were not completed several years after they were meant to be operational.
It also alleged his businesses had multi-million pound black holes and that inter-company loans had also gone missing.
Thousands of victims risk losing a large chunk of their savings, with some saying they will be forced to work long into their retirement.
In 2019 creditors took Woodhouse to court, where a judge ruled that his business model appeared to be ‘thoroughly dishonest’ and a ‘shameful abuse of the privileges of limited liability trading’.
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