A convicted fraudster from Bath has been ordered to pay more than £4million or face extra time behind bars, following a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing at Bristol Crown Court.
Jeff Arundell, 75, of Sion Hill in Lansdown, was jailed for six-and-a-half years in October 2023 after being convicted of multiple offences including fraud and money laundering relating to financial dealings in 2016 and 2017.
He returned to court on 3 October 2025 for a confiscation hearing, and on 19 December 2025 His Honour Judge Blair ruled that Arundell had illegally benefitted by £4.8million. A confiscation order was made for the available amount of £4,140,428.59, with more than £220,000 to be returned to his victims.
If Arundell cannot or refuses to pay, he will face a further eight years in prison.
The case began after Arundell invited a friend, in November 2016, to invest in what he claimed was a guaranteed money-making opportunity involving shares in a pharmaceutical company.
He said he had information that the shares were about to rise significantly and personally guaranteed the investment, encouraging his friend and the friend’s family members to put in money. In total, he received about £108,000 to invest on their behalf.
In early December 2016, he placed the funds on spread-betting trades, but soon told the investors he had lost their money and could not honour his guarantee. A subsequent police investigation revealed he had actually made profits on some trades and gone on to use those winnings to continue betting, building up a £4.6million windfall by August 2017.
Arundell claimed to police he could have repaid the guarantee because he had received around £100,000 in inheritance from his late mother’s estate earlier that year.
That led to a separate fraud investigation, which found he had taken his mother’s money while holding power of attorney some years before her death, depriving other relatives of their inheritance.
He was convicted at Bristol Crown Court in 2023 of three counts of fraud by false representation and one of money laundering, relating to £86,000 he had received from his friend and the family.
He was found not guilty of a fourth fraud charge concerning the remaining money. In April 2021, he was also convicted of fraud by abuse of position over his handling of his late mother’s finances.
DCI Carlos Filippsen said: “This is a significant result against an offender who was convicted of fraud and money laundering offences in November 2023. The convictions and subsequent confiscation orders in this case show how we will pursue offenders who directly target victims, including stripping them of any assets they have gained through crime.
“Ensuring that we have been able to return those funds to the victims and for the perpetrator to not be able to benefit from his criminal activity demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that crime does not and will not pay.
“I hope this will deter other criminals who may be involved in these despicable offences, by showing that they will be convicted and have their ill-gotten gains removed.”
