5 million of client money allegedly lost to fund investments, purchase land, and support their failing business ventures. The investments, described by prosecutors as 'private placement programs', were characterized as 'gambling' with other people's money. Victims were reportedly lured in by Long, who advertised his company Universal on letterbox leaflets offering seminars.
In 2018, Universal collapsed, and accountants discovered operating losses of nearly £6 million over six years in financial records at the company's Ipswich offices. At trial, evidence from Simpson's banking details with Barclays showed he had his own trust fund to protect his money and declared an annual salary of £270,000 while working with Long. Jurors were told Long admitted using client money to pay the staff wage bill.
This is fundamentally a case about greed. Mr Long and Mr Simpson sought to enrich themselves using money that was not theirs.
According to Daily Mail - Home, prosecutor Charlene Sumnall described the case as fundamentally about greed, with Simpson and Long seeking to enrich themselves using money that was not theirs. Sumnall emphasized that the money taken belonged to real people, with sums ranging from tens to hundreds of thousands of pounds, representing inheritances and life savings lost due to greed. The current status of the trial and specific charges against Simpson and Long remain unclear, as does the number of victims allegedly defrauded.
The outcome of the accounting investigation into Universal's financial records in March 2018 has not been disclosed, and it is unknown what evidence beyond the text message and banking details supports the prosecution's allegations or if there are ongoing investigations or regulatory actions.
As Mr Simpson was to put in a text to Mr Long on 27 November 2016 'I am sick of being poor'.
Sometimes in a fraud case you lose sight of the people who have suffered. It is easy to get bogged down in technical detail and to feel at times overwhelmed by that detail. But the money that was taken in this case belongs to real people. It is their money that Mr Simpson and Mr Long were gambling with. It is their money that the pair put at risk to enrich themselves.
They are not insignificant sums of money. In fact, £10,000s and in some cases £100,000s. These were people's inheritances and life savings gone because of the greed of Mr Long and Mr Simpson.