Convicted pension fraudster, Patrick McLarry, has been ordered to repay £286,852 of stolen savings to the Yateley Industries for the Disabled Limited Pension and Assurance Scheme

At Salisbury Crown Court, judge Recorder James Waddington QC ordered McLarry to compensate members for the money he had taken, including inflation.

He was also ordered to repay legal costs of £71,477 to The Pensions Regulator (TPR), who brought the confiscation hearing to Salisbury Crown Court under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

McLarry, 72, is currently serving a five-year prison sentence for defrauding the scheme.

He stole the money from the pension scheme of Yateley Industries for the Disabled and spent it on homes in France and Hampshire, and to pay off a personal debt.

Commenting on the decision, TPR director of enforcement, Erica Carroll, said: “McLarry abused his position to steal money from the scheme’s members, money which was supposed to help pay for their retirement. Instead, he spent the money on himself.

“He received a lengthy jail sentence for his crime and quite rightly he must now return the money he stole back to the pension scheme for the benefit of its members. If he fails to hand over the cash, he will have to serve an extra three years in jail and still have to pay up.

“TPR will not flinch from using every weapon in our arsenal to tackle pension fraudsters and will continue to protect savers’ retirements.”

The money recovered will be paid to the scheme under the trusteeship of Dalriada Trustees, the independent trustee responsible for the pension scheme.

McLarry was previously chief executive and chairman of the charity, and trustee of its pension scheme.

He had admitted one charge of fraud at a court hearing in November 2019, before attempting to change his plea to not guilty.

McLarry had attempted to evade justice by forging documents, lying to TPR investigators about who owned the properties involved and refusing to hand over vital evidence.

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