Former Nasa scientist John Burford, 85, dubbed the Tramline Trader pleads guilty to £1M investment fraud
An 85-year-old fraudster has pleaded guilty to charges brought by the Financial Conduct Authority, accusing him of fleecing investors for years.
John Burford, who ran three 'Tramline' funds and was known as the 'Tramline Trader', generated more than £1million from a bogus investment scheme he ran for four years.
Just £760,000 of the funds taken from investors was ever traded, Westminster Magistrates' Court heard, as Burford appeared in the dock last week.
Burford, who now lives in Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, took funds from more than 100 investors, using gains in order to buy a property and fund his living expenses, the FCA said.
The fraudster is an ex-physicist with a PhD in Physics form the University of Toronto, who worked on Nasa's Manned Mars Exploration Team, according to Pan Macmillan.
Through his company, Financial Trading Strategies Ltd, Burford promoted a paid subscription service, as well as daily trade alerts offering investment advice and access to his three funds.
Burford offered a VIP Traders Club for £995 per year, and a £595 fee to get daily alerts on promising stock market opportunities.
The firm did so without authorisation from the FCA, who alleged Burford lied repeatedly about how much his funds were worth, and hid the extent of the losses he had made through trading.
Steve Smart, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: 'Mr Burford fleeced unwitting investors in order to enrich his life - not theirs.
'Identifying and disrupting criminals who abuse people's trust for their own gain, is a top priority for the FCA.'
Burford will be sentenced at a later date at Southwark Crown Court.
The FCA said it will pursue confiscation orders in order to deprive him of the money defrauded from investors, and said it will return these funds to the investors.
The FCA said carrying out unauthorised business is punishable by a fine or up to two years in prison, while fraudulent trading is punishable by a fine or as much as 10 years in prison.
Burford's investment activity was investigated by our columnist Tony Hetherington last year, revealing that Burford claimed to investors that the FCA had frozen his assets, despite no restraint order having been placed on him.
At the time, the FCA placed Burford's firm on a warning list, saying: 'This is an unauthorised firm that may be providing financial services or products in the UK without our permission.'
The FCA started investigating Burford in 2023, with charges brought 23 months later.
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