A fugitive who ran a Ponzi-style investment scam worth £70 million in the City of London has been given jailed after going on the run.
Anthony Constantinou, 41, ran Capital World Markets (CWM) which offered investors returns of 60 per cent per year on allegedly risk-free foreign exchange markets.
He was jailed for 14 years at Southwark Crown Court on Friday after previously being found guilty of seven charges including fraud by false representation, fraudulent trading and money laundering.
He was also disqualified from being a director of a company for 25 years.
He attended the early stages of the court case but was last reported to be in Bulgaria where he was arrested for travelling on false documentation but then being released. Detectives believe he is now in Dubai or Turkey.
Detective Inspector Nichola Meghji, from the City of London Police, said: “Anthony Constantinou is a career criminal who has no regard for anyone but himself.
“We are glad that he has now been jailed for such a significant period of time and we hope that his victims can take some comfort in knowing how seriously the judge has taken his crimes.
“The fact that the jury unanimously found him guilty after his trial also speaks volumes.
“While he initially attended court to hear the opening of his trial, Constantinou did not attend the later stages. Enquiries on his whereabouts revealed that he had fled his last known address in London and he was last located in Bulgaria trying to enter Turkey using false documents.
“That is why today, we at the City of London Police, are launching an appeal for information on Constantinou’s whereabouts so that he can be brought back to the UK to face the justice that has been served.
“Constantinou was arrested in Bulgaria last month while trying to enter Turkey while in possession of false documents. He was later released and officers believe he is now either in Turkey or Dubai, but he also has family connections to Greece and Cyprus.”
She said he is known to use the aliases of Antonis Hadjicostis and Georgios Arnaoutakis.
The officer added: “It is also vitally important that people come forward with information as Constantinou was previously convicted of sexual assault in 2016 and by absconding from the UK, he is now in breach of his sexual offences harm order.
“An international arrest warrant has been issued for Constantinou’s arrest, but we are calling on the public to help authorities locate him.”
