A DISGRACED financial advisor previously jailed for stealing more than £1 million from his clients has been ordered to pay his victims a nominal amount of just £1, after a police investigation recovered zero assets.

David Vaughan Jones, 83, was handed a suspended 12-month prison sentence last December after pleading guilty to defrauding one client, Sharon Myler, out of more than £600,000. The latest offences came to light after Jones, of Trawscoed, Llandrinio, had only been let out of prison in May 2020 following a six-year term served in May 2017 for originally stealing £1.4m from 11 clients – including close friends – between 1994 and 2015.

At a proceeds of crime act hearing at Mold Crown Court this morning (May 9), Judge Niclas Parry made an order that a nominal fee of £1 should be paid by Jones – due to the fact that during police investigations so far, no money had been recovered from the defendant.

Prosecutor James Davis said that an agreed benefit figure of £643,836.58 was not disputed by Jones.

“A financial investigation found no assets that could be realised to make any contribution towards that figure,” said Mr Davis.

“The defendant is on a private and state pension. His honour is therefore invited to simply make a nominal order of £1 today. Clearly, should any assets materialise in the future, this is a matter that can and should be revisited.”

Hugh McKee, acting for Jones, asked for the order to be made and deemed the £1 to be paid.

Judge Parry told Jones, who was present in court: “It should be put on record that there has been an investigation by officers whose profession it is to investigate these matters.

“Remarkably, bearing in mind how much money was taken, they simply can’t find it. It’s right to state that the investigation will continue and if assets are found then this order would be revisited.

“There are people still begging me to do something about it, who understandably believe that I’ve let them down. I simply want them to know there are people investigating and have been investigating to see where the remaining money is. These people have suffered such huge losses.

“For the benefit of criminality in this latest case, with no assets having been recovered, the recoverable amount must be the nominal £1 deemed to have been paid. That brings this particular aspect of the case to a conclusion.”

Jones had been electronically monitored for four months following his sentencing in December; he had to adhere to a daily curfew and remain indoors at his home between 6.30pm-6.30am.

The former solicitor admitted six offences in relation to Ms Myler in May last year, having originally appeared at Welshpool Magistrates’ Court in April – he admitted defrauding her out of a total of £606,000 between 2005 and 2010.

Jones advised his victim to invest large sums of money into offshore accounts run by him and repeatedly reassured her she would get her money back – even persuading his victim not to cooperate with a police investigation into him after she had been contacted by the authorities in 2015.

The thefts eventually led to bankruptcy measures being taken against Ms Myler in April 2017. Jones had attended a tax appeal hearing with her and promising to return her money. However, just three weeks later he was behind bars.

Sentencing in the original case was delayed by six months because the defendant insisted he had money in offshore accounts and could retrieve clients’ lost savings. But by May 2017 not a penny had been repaid, leading to his custodial sentence.

A figure of £700,000 was recovered from the sale of his house, plus his shareholdings in a commercial property in Newtown.

Ms Myler, who had met the defendant in 2001, was described as the “largest single loser”. Over the years, she had handed over six separate amounts ranging from £30,000 to £160,000 to Jones.

In a victim impact statement read out at sentencing, Ms Myler said: “David Jones stole my life savings, causing huge financial and personal hardship.

“He breached my trust, lied constantly and stole a lot of money from me.”