{{short description|British businessman and convicted fraudster}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} '''Gerald Martin Smith''' (born 21 May 1955) is a British businessman and convicted fraudster.
==Early life== Smith was born on 21 May 1955. He qualified as a physician.<ref name="standard.co.uk">{{cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/fraudster-s-family-sues-tycoon-for-100m-to-help-pay-41m-debt-8564292.html|title=Fraudster's family sues tycoon for £100m to help pay £41m debt|website=standard.co.uk|date=10 April 2013 |accessdate=22 December 2017}}</ref>
==Business career== In 1993, while chief executive of the Farr construction group, he was prosecuted for stealing £2 million from its pension fund and sentenced to two years' imprisonment.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/2812323/Anatomy-of-a-34m-theft.html|title=Anatomy of a £34m theft|first=Richard|last=Fletcher|date=16 July 2007|publisher=|accessdate=22 December 2017|via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref>
In 2002, Smith acquired 30% of Izodia plc through his investment company, Orb. He placed his own directors on the board and moved the main company bank account to Jersey where he stole money from it.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/2c4f6f90-c1e0-11e0-bc71-00144feabdc0|title=Izodia investors pursue lost £5.3m|date=8 August 2011|website=Financial Times|accessdate=22 December 2017}}</ref> In December 2002, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) raided his home in Jersey and his company offices. By February 2005, criminal charges were being considered. On the day that Smith was to report with his lawyers to the SFO's offices, he was involved in a car crash and had to be cut from his Audi A8 after having run into a tree. Traffic police found two first class tickets to New York in his briefcase. In 2005, he pled guilty to 10 counts of theft totalling £34m and one of false accounting in respect of his position at Izodia plc. He was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment and, in 2006, disqualified from acting as a company director for 15 years.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/media/8865652/Convicted-fraudster-Gerald-Smith-admits-media-company-Body-in-Balance-close-to-collapse.html|title=Convicted fraudster Gerald Smith admits media company Body in Balance 'close to collapse'|first=Jonathan|last=Russell|date=3 November 2011|publisher=|accessdate=22 December 2017|via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref> He was released from jail after four years.
In 2003, he sued Andy Ruhan, his former business associate, for over £100 million he claimed was owed to him in respect of a hotel deal.<ref name="standard.co.uk"/>
==Personal life== Smith was married to Gail Cochrane, a medical practitioner in Jersey, until their divorce. The couple have two daughters.<ref name="standard.co.uk"/> She was described by Serious Fraud Office lawyer Kennedy Talbot QC as the "front" for Smith's continuing business activities.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/time-running-out-for-fraudster-who-owes-taxman-64m-a3722181.html|title=Time running out for fraudster who owes taxman £64m|website=standard.co.uk|date=18 December 2017 |accessdate=22 December 2017}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}} * {{Cite web|title=Izodia Plc: Gerald Smith|url=https://www.sfo.gov.uk/cases/izodia-plc-gerald-smith/|access-date=2021-01-21|website=Serious Fraud Office|language=en}} * {{Cite web|title=Jetsetting fraudster 'too poor' to pay £66m debt|url=https://www.bailiwickexpress.com/jsy/news/jetsetting-fraudster-too-poor-pay-66m-debt/|access-date=2021-01-21|website=Bailiwick Express|language=en|date=9 January 2019}} * {{Cite web|title=Jersey fraudster doctor owing £70m to face UK trial|url=https://www.bailiwickexpress.com/jsy/news/fraudster-doctor-face-uk-trial/|access-date=2021-01-21|website=Bailiwick Express|language=en|date=18 January 2021}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Gerald Martin}} Category:1955 births Category:British people convicted of fraud Category:20th-century British medical doctors Category:Living people Category:Jersey criminals
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