British Ex-Model Jailed in Spain for defrauding expats of millions
Jody Pearson, formerly known as Jody Smart, has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison after losing her appeals against a fraud conviction.
A British fraudster, ex-model Jody Pearson, also known as Jody Smart, has been jailed in Spain for defrauding hundreds of UK expats out of an estimated £29 million. Pearson was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison in Costa Blanca after her appeals were rejected.
The 50-year-old was found guilty of fraud in a Spanish court and has begun serving her sentence at Alicante's Cumplimiento prison, having voluntarily surrendered. Pearson was the former boss of Continental Wealth Management (CWM), a firm that collapsed in 2017, leaving over 900 expats unable to access their retirement funds and investment bonds.
Pearson was convicted in April of last year for deliberately swindling expats Sally Anne Hodgson and Tim Benjamin. Both individuals had entrusted CWM with money for a property on the Costa Blanca that ultimately did not exist. Pearson has been ordered to pay £316,000 in compensation to Ms. Hodgson and Mr. Benjamin. Another client, Mark Davison, lost £679,000 but died before Pearson was imprisoned.
Pearson appealed her conviction to the Valencia High Court and then to Spain's Supreme Court, but both appeals were unsuccessful. She had previously been allowed to continue running her bar, the Oceana Club in Benissa, while her appeals were pending.