Judge slams Scotland Yard for failing to probe legal eagle who defrauded US businessman out of millions
- Stephen Jones stole more than £13m from billionaire John Paul DeJoria
- Jones, a London solicitor aged 63, was jailed for 12 years after admitting fraud
- At Southwark Crown Court, Judge Martin Griffiths said it was a ‘great shame’
A judge has criticised the Met for failing to investigate a solicitor who stole more than £13million from an American billionaire.
An Arizona firm, acting for entrepreneur John Paul DeJoria when the frauds were committed, had to privately prosecute London solicitor Stephen Jones.
At Southwark Crown Court, Judge Martin Griffiths said it was a ‘great shame’ the British authorities were ‘requiring an American company to undertake the Proceeds of Crime Act in this country’.
Jones, 63, was jailed for 12 years after admitting fraud. His firm Jirehouse was transferred £13million by Discovery Land Company, a development firm specialising in luxury property, to buy Taymouth Castle in Perthshire, Scotland, on behalf of Mr DeJoria, who co-founded the Patron Spirits Company and the Paul Mitchell line of hair products. Instead, Jones stole the cash. At the sentencing, Judge Griffiths criticised the Met and Crown Prosecution Service for refusing to prosecute the case.
At Southwark Crown Court (pictured), Judge Martin Griffiths said it was a ‘great shame’ the British authorities were ‘requiring an American company to undertake the Proceeds of Crime Act in this country’
The two authorities were instructed by the High Court to investigate Mr Jones in 2019.
After the organisations did nothing for 18 months, the company decided to prosecute privately.
‘It is such an obviously prosecutable case that was crying out for prosecution.
He added that the court is ‘sometimes swamped’ with private prosecutions but Discovery Land Company made a ‘perfectly correct decision to launch these proceedings’.
He said: ‘I am amazed that no one has seen fit to take this over. A solicitor taking client funds and dissipating them – I can’t see a more obvious case for the authorities in this country doing its job.’
Addressing Mr Jones, Justice Griffith said: ‘There was every chance you would get away with it until the private prosecutors stepped in.’
Prosecuting barrister Steven Kay KC said the company ‘was left on its own to do the job of the police in investigating and prosecuting criminal action’.
‘Police simply failed to assist DLC in any meaningful way and failed to hold Jones accountable for his crimes,’ he said.
Mr Kay also said the company has spent around £4million globally in legal fees and costs trying to recover the stolen funds.
Wearing a pink checked shirt, navy jumper and blazer and carrying a Waitrose reusable tote bag, Mr Jones was supported in court by his wife Karen and son Samuel.
His family were named by the prosecution as discretionary beneficiaries in an organisation registered in St Kitts and Nevis to which Mr Jones is believed to have dissipated more than £1.6million through a complex arrangement of companies.
Calling Mr Jones’s actions ‘madness’, Justice Griffith said he knew the money was client funds and yet ‘spirited them away’.
‘A solicitor fresh out of law school would have known what to do with that money. That was rank dishonesty carried out by a person who ought to know it was dishonest.
He continued to say there was ‘a lot of covering up by you but the worst was your abuse of a position of trust’.
‘You being a solicitor who had clearly broken the rules – how your heart must have lept when you heard authorities declined to prosecute. Had they not done so, [you served] seven months in jail for over £10million.
Representatives of the company in the US and the UK said in victim personal statements that their mental and physical health declined after the frauds, and the damage to their reputations in the industry was ‘enormous’.
In his sentencing, Judge Griffith told Mr Jones that his crimes caused the victims ‘immense damage to their professional relationship with JP [Mr DeJoria], mental stress – they talk of years of attempting to pursue you which is ongoing’.
‘You showed absolutely no remorse as you ducked and dived and took every opportunity to obstruct the release of the funds,’ he said.
Yesterday’s judgement marks a considerable fall from grace for Mr Jones after a 36-year career as a solicitor. He was sent to prison for seven months in 2019 for contempt of court and was declared bankrupt in March 2020.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has also commenced proceedings against Mr Jones, with his barrister Selva Ramasamy KC [corr] saying his ‘striking off is inevitable’.
Mr Jones previously worked for creditors of the late controversial businessman Scot Young.
The CPS said it was unable to speak last night. The Met did not respond to requests for comment.
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