A crooked financial advisor serving time for plundering millions of pounds from peoples’s pensions and life savings has instructed new lawyers to represent him in a proceeds of crime action.
Alistair Greig, 67, was jailed in April 2020 for carrying out a Ponzi scam which sucked in dozens of individuals in the Aberdeen area to place their funds in “guaranteed” high interest accounts.
But he used the cash to fund his own lavish lifestyle with top of the range cars and no expense spared trips to see English premiership matches.
Prosecutors believe he made more than £21 million during his criminal career and are hoping to recover some of Greig’s ill gotten gains with an action brought under proceeds of crime laws.
However, on Monday, it emerged that Mr Greig has instructed a new legal team to represent him in the legal action.
He has dispensed with the services of advocate Mark Moir QC and instructed the Vice Dean of the Faculty of Advocates Ronnie Renucci QC to represent him.
Mr Renucci will be assisted by junior counsel Ximena Vengoechea.
On Monday, Mr Renucci asked judge Lord Weir to continue the case against Greig until November 1 this year.
Mr Renucci said: “There has been a change of agency in this case. I am asking your lordship to continue this case to a further pre-determination hearing on November 1 so we can read up on the papers and documents which have been lodged in this case.”
Greig was earlier unanimously found guilty of obtaining £13,281,671.25 by fraud through his scheme between August 2001 and October 2014.
He pretended to investors he would place money for in a short term deposit scheme with the Royal Bank of Scotland for fixed periods of time.
He was also convicted of breaching financial services and markets legislation and converting and transferring £5.7 million in criminal property. He had denied the offences.
The Crown listed a total of 165 victims of fraud on the indictment brought against Greig.
Greig, formerly of Cairnbulg, in Aberdeenshire, used the case to fund investments in property, including a holiday home in Cornwall, and a classic car business.
He also treated himself to a high end Bentley and Range Rover vehicles and spent lavishly on trips to Old Trafford to see Manchester United and to Cheltenham and Ascot for race meetings.
Prosecution lawyer Steven Borthwick told jurors that Greig used the money entrusted to him as "his own personal slush fund".
Greig, who has since been made bankrupt in England, told his own clients and advisers that he had access to a high interest account at RBS because of his connections.
But Mr Borthwick said: "The truth of the matter is Alistair Greig had no special relationship with RBS."
Greig was originally given a 14 year sentence for his crimes which was later cut to 10 years by appeal judges.
Passing sentence, Lord Tyre said: "The amount that you helped yourself to in order to fund a lavish lifestyle was also extremely large _ almost £6 million found its way into your own bank accounts."
At a procedural hearing for the proceeds of crime action this year, it emerged that prosecutors believed he made more than £21 million during his criminal career.
Judge Lord Braid heard at the High Court in Edinburgh how the Crown believes that Greig made a total of £21.7 million during his time as a law breaker.
The judge also heard that prosecutors believe that Greig only has a total of £829,736.87 of funds available at this point in time.
On Monday, Lord Weir continued the proceeds of crime action until November 1 2021.
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