Fraudster jailed for scamming pensioners out of £11.5m as his accomplice hides out in luxury Portuguese villa

Published: 16:11, 17 July 2026 | Updated: 16:18, 17 July 2026 A greedy financial adviser who defrauded vulnerable pensioners out of £11.5 million to fund his luxury lifestyle has been jailed. Steven Long, 59, cruelly preyed on more than 100 victims promising to secure their savings against inheritance tax and care home fees. Along with his accomplice Raymond Simpson, 79, who refused to attend sentencing and is hiding in his luxury pad in Portugal, the pair spent millions on land, holidays, cars and a former royal retreat used by King Edward VII. Jailing Long and Simpson for two counts of fraud at Southwark Crown Court, Judge Gregory Perrins described the pair as driven by 'greed' to maintain their 'exceptionally lavish lifestyles'. In a scathing rebuke of Simpson's refusal to attend his sentencing and trial, he added: 'He has done all he can to remain beyond the reach of the British courts and will no doubt continue to do so with the utmost of his ability.' British authorities are attempting to extradite Simpson from Portugal, where he lives with his wife in the town of Miranda do Corvo roughly 90 minutes from Porto. Judge Perrins added: 'You abused the trust of so many people in the worst ways possible by removing their security and peace of mind, simply so you could keep your business running and so that you and your family could enjoy all the trappings of wealth.' Long was jailed for eight years and four months while Simpson was jailed in his absence to five and a half years.   Steven Long admitted two counts of fraud earlier this year ahead of Simpson's trial starting The fraud ran for a decade from 2008 and saw them swindle £10,000s sometimes £100,000s from individuals which the pair said would be placed in trusts. Long used his 'impressive sales techniques' and company Universal Wealth Management to host seminars at expensive hotels to find victims.  He would then visit them at their home addresses often soon after family members had died on the false pretence of showing that he cared for their emotions. But really he used the meetings to trick his victims into handing over money which he then spent on himself or placed in dodgy overseas investments.   One of Long's and Simpson's victims Deborah Wildish, from Kent, lost £84,000. In an interview with the Daily Mail she said: 'The memory of even just the amount of money I lost is too much. 'I can be watching a television quiz show and if the prize is £80,000, I just can't deal with it and have to turn the TV off. 'He [Long] knew my mum and dad were ill, and about the stroke and dementia. He knew we were vulnerable.' Raymond Simpson at his villa 'Casa Simpson' in Miranda do Corvo in Portugal where he lives Long repeated this same pattern of deceit over and over again to fund his lifestyle, but by 2017 his greed had grown too great. He had used trust funds like Deborah's to buy his former wife a villa in Javea, Spain, pay her tax bill and buy her a Range Rover. He also put a £3 million bid on the former royal retreat and grade II-listed Coton House used by King Edward VII in the 1900s in Rugby, equipped with its own tennis court, all while renting two mansions – one of which was owned by Kieron Dyer, a former Premier League footballer. And when he wasn't living it up at home he was on five-star breaks in Mexico running up bills over £100,000.  His bid for Coton House ultimately fell through when he couldn't produce the funds.  Another of Long's victims, Andryene Sinclair, the daughter of Linda Sinclair, who has dementia, said her mum no longer ‘has the capacity to understand the betrayal she has suffered’. ‘Knowing she was taken advantage of, especially by someone she trusted, has caused deep emotional pain,' Andryene added. 'It’s devastating and feels deeply unfair. The money that was robbed represented a lifetime of hard work, sacrifice and planning.' The villa which Long bought in Javea, in Spain using the money he defrauded from his victims The Portuguese villa called 'Casa Simpson' where Long's sidekick is hiding out to avoid justice While a further victim David Cunningham lost all £140,000 of his late wife’s savings. Long 'sensed an easy prey' when Mr Cunningham explained the issues he was having managing his wife’s estate. Mr Cunningham, who was married to his wife for 42 years, said: 'I feel ashamed, guilty about my incompetence, suspicious of people, unhappy, tense, saddened, nervous about making most decisions. 'I have completely failed my wife and children, which I cannot undo.' 'Even now after more than 10 years, I still quite often wake up in the night… feeling like a complete failure. Charlen Sumnall prosecuting said: 'This case was fundamentally a case about greed. Mr Long and Mr Simpson sought to enrich themselves using money that was not theirs. 'In doing so they had no regard to how the people to whom the assets that they were helping themselves to would be impacted. 'The fact that these were individuals who were older, near or at retirement age, means the Crown say that they were particularly vulnerable. Victim Deborah  pictured with leaflets advertising the crooked pair's wealth management scam 'Put crudely they do not have enough time left to earn back that which has been defrauded from them,' Miss Sumnall added. The victims were described as 'careful, responsible people who had worked tirelessly hard over years to build up, often modest but extremely significant, capital (or) assets.' Yet Long 'lived and enjoyed a lavish lifestyle', Ms Sumnall said. 'He boasted about one of the properties he rented having belonged to a Premiership footballer.' When the Daily Mail tracked Simpson down to his home, called 'Casa Simpson'  a gardener claimed 'he was too sick to come to the door.' Simpson refused to attend his four week trial when he was convicted of two counts of fraud earlier this year claiming a minor hip operation meant he could not get out of bed.  But Judge Perrins concluded that Simpson was likely 'hiding' behind the condition to malinger in Portugal. Simpson's villa, with its own swimming pool and extensive gardens, is set against the backdrop of the Serra da Lousã mountains famed locally for their beauty. The court heard that he bought the villa using money from his wife's inheritance and the sale of his house in Durham. Simpson spent money from the fraud on land purchases in Spain which he planned to turn into property developments but the scheme fell through.   A proceeds of crime hearing will happen on the 9 December to begin the process of trying to recover the funds.