How £70m of 'Green' Pension Savings Vanished in Costa Rican Timber Scam

Three former directors of a UK-based forestry investment company have admitted orchestrating a £70 million pension fraud that exploited investors' environmental concerns to fund lavish lifestyles. Matthew Pickard, Stephen Greenaway and Paul Laver pleaded guilty to fraudulent trading at Ethical Forestry Limited, a Bournemouth-based firm that collapsed in 2016 after persuading more than 3,000 people to transfer their retirement savings into Costa Rican teak plantations that never materialised.

The case represents one of Britain's largest pension liberation frauds, exposing how legitimate concerns about climate change were weaponised to steal life savings through a sophisticated network of cold-callers, sham advisors, and offshore investments.

Background and Context

Ethical Forestry operated from a call centre in Bournemouth, employing several hundred staff who targeted members of the public across the UK with unsolicited pension review offers. The company capitalised on growing interest in sustainable investments during the early 2010s, promising returns from teak plantations while positioning itself as an environmentally responsible alternative to traditional pension funds.

According to Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigators, the company had no viable business model by 2012 and no prospect of repaying investors. Rather than shutting down, the directors continued raising funds, using new money to make token payments to earlier investors while diverting millions for personal use.

Key Figures and Entities

Court documents reveal how the three directors orchestrated the scheme from Ethical Forestry's headquarters while living extravagantly on stolen funds. Stephen Greenaway purchased a £1.9 million home in Sandbanks, Poole—Britain's most expensive seaside location—while Matthew Pickard acquired a £4.3 million property. The directors also amassed collections of high-end sports cars, investigators said.

The operation relied on a closed-loop advisory system. Pickard, Greenaway and Laver hired their own financial advisors, paying commission for every customer referred back to Ethical Forestry. "Once the member of the public had been convinced, out of the blue to have a pension review, they were always going to be referred back to Ethical Forestry," investigators noted in court proceedings.

Legal and Financial Mechanisms

The scheme followed classic pension liberation fraud patterns: investors were encouraged to transfer savings from legitimate employer pension schemes into self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs), which then directed funds to Ethical Forestry's Costa Rican teak projects. Victims received no independent advice, instead entering what prosecutors described as "a closed loop" designed to siphon money directly to the directors.

By late 2012, the operation had become a Ponzi-style scheme, using new investor funds to maintain the appearance of legitimate returns. Court records show the directors also diverted £2.7 million to administer a tax avoidance scheme for their personal benefit. The teak plantations themselves were largely fictional, with investigators finding no evidence of genuine forestry management or timber harvesting operations.

International Implications and Policy Response

The case highlights vulnerabilities in cross-border investment schemes that exploit legitimate environmental concerns for fraudulent purposes. The Costa Rican teak plantations, while sounding credible to environmentally-conscious investors, provided perfect cover for moving money internationally while evading regulatory scrutiny.

More than 3,000 victims lost their life savings in the scheme, many of them approaching retirement age. The SFO has indicated that sentencing will occur in May, with compensation orders expected to be considered. The case has prompted renewed calls for tighter regulation of pension transfer advice and greater scrutiny of overseas investment schemes marketed as sustainable or ethical opportunities.

Sources

This report draws on Serious Fraud Office case filings, court proceedings from the UK criminal justice system, and official statements regarding the prosecution of Ethical Forestry directors between 2016 and 2024.