7BR’s Ben Isaacs successfully prosecutes in £70 million investment fraud case.

On 3 September 2026, Matthew Pickard, Stephen Greenaway and Paul Laver were sentenced to a combined 15 years and 9 months in prison for orchestrating a £70 million investment fraud case.

The three directors of Ethical Forestry Ltd pleaded guilty to the offence of Fraudulent Trading. The case arose out of the collapse of a £70 million (purportedly ethical) forestry investment scheme involving trees to be planted in Costa Risa and almost 3,000 investors, majority of whom had transferred their existing pensions into the scheme.

Ben continues to act for the SFO in the resulting Confiscation proceedings.

You can read more about the case here.

Ben was led by 5SAH’s Kevin Dent KC.


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