Two cleared of £52m pension fraud as third gets 8 years Tony Morris was cleared along with his financial advisor Peter Malstrom of fraud and money laundering in connection with the GP Noble case. A third man, Graham Pitcher, 50, was jailed for eight years for conspiracy to defraud. His conviction took place last year but can only be reported now due to restrictions put in place while the remaining cases were tried. Anther defendant, Gary Cordell, was found not guilty. The case brought by the Serious Fraud Office alleged the four men were part of a conspiracy to transfer £52m of client money from a pension fund to offshore vehicles. The men were then accused of being involved in a plot to siphon off huge sums of cash in fees and other charges. The SFO claimed Mr Morris, 49, used the cash to fund a luxury lifestyle including bankrolling a Hollywood film. Mr Malstrom, 45, was accused of helping him the launder £7m of money. Both men were cleared at Southwark Crown Court yesterday. Sentencing Pitcher last year Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith said: "At some stage you may have believed that this scheme would benefit the pensioners. But the fact that you so carefully hid what you were up to from the parent company and the regulating authorities shows you did not believe it would stand up to any scrutiny. You would have been denied access to the world of boats and private planes that your jottings show you dreamed about. As breach of trust cases go, this is about as serious as it can get. The case is one of number that have been referred for criminal prosecution by the Pensions Regulator. Ian Gordon, partner in the pensions practice at lawyers Pinsent Masons, says: "We are seeing an increasing number of civil and criminal cases coming through as a result of raids on pension pots. The Pensions Regulator is rightly taking a robust line on wrongdoers and we can expect to see more of this in future.