One of the defendants charged in connection with a multi-million pound fraud investigation by The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has changed their plea to guilty.

Alan Barratt, 61, had initially pleaded not guilty to a charge of fraud at a previous hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.

However, he changed his plea to guilty at a hearing at Southwark Crown Court today (14 January).

Another defendant, Susan Dalton, 65, had already entered a guilty plea at a previous hearing, while Julian Hanson, 56, had pleased not guilty on a previous occasion.

The regulator alleged that between 2012 and 2014, 245 savers were persuaded to transfer their pension savings, totalling £13.7m, into 11 pension schemes, which were controlled by the defendants.

Barratt previously had to be extradited from Spain to the UK by officers of the Metropolitan Police earlier this year for his suspected role in the pension fraud, in what represented a first for TPR.

The case has been adjourned until 13 June, when Hanson will stand trial at Southwark Crown Court.

All the defendants have been released on conditional bail.

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