Kelvin Peter Myles was sentenced at the Central Criminal Court today to 6 months imprisonment - suspended for 2 years - for his part in a conspiracy to defraud in the creation of a false market during 1989 and 1990 surrounding a £21 million Offer for Sale of shares in Richmond Oil & Gas plc.
Three other conspirators (David Crowe, Roger Jeffries and David Wilkinson) were sentenced in April last year (see note 1). Proceedings against another person (Clive Smith) have been stayed (see note 2).
Notes for editors
1. The convictions of Crowe, Jeffries and Wilkinson featured in our annual report for 1999/2000 published last summer. The text of that report is repeated below:
As at 20 July 2000
Richmond Oil and Gas: David Crowe and David Wilkinson were
convicted and Roger Jeffries pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal
Court, Old Bailey of conspiracy to defraud on matters relating to
the flotation of a company on the stock market. (They were
subsequently sentenced on 12 April 2000 to between 15 months and
two years imprisonment suspended for two years). A fourth
defendant, not tried with the other three, has been transferred to
the Central Criminal Court for trial at a date not yet fixed.
Certain reporting restrictions currently apply.
The fourth defendant not named in the above extract from the annual report is the subject of this press release, Kelvin Myles. He was tried separately because he had left the UK for Ireland before he was charged. He initially contested extradition proceedings but later agreed to return voluntarily.
2. There was also a fifth defendant, Clive James Smith. However, proceedings against him have been stayed on health grounds. He is currently in prison, serving consecutive sentences for frauds committed in two other cases; one concluded in May 1998 and the other in June 1999. The opening of proceedings against him in those cases affected the commencement of the Richmond Oil & Gas trials.
SFO Press Office tel: 020 7239 7001/4 (out of hours mobile: 0781 807 6688)
