Investigators have successfully seized a hidden pension pot valued at nearly £300,000 from Virendra Rastogi, a fraudster previously recognized as one of the wealthiest individuals in Britain. Rastogi, who was one of three former directors of RBG Resources, faced prosecution by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in 2008 for a staggering £400 million metal trading scam that operated between 1996 and 2002.
Alongside his co-directors, Anand Jain and Gautam Majumdar, Rastogi orchestrated an elaborate scheme that involved creating over 300 fictitious customers at global addresses, misleading 20 banks into providing cash advances. When liquidators from Grant Thornton sought to trace the assets, they uncovered a trail of fake addresses, including a cowshed in India, instead of the expected warehouses filled with metals. Rastogi was identified as “the real brains” behind the operation and received a nine-and-a-half-year prison sentence, while Jain and Majumdar were sentenced to eight-and-a-half and seven-and-a-half years, respectively.
In 2021, 13 years post-sentencing, the SFO leveraged new account forfeiture powers to confiscate £248,000 generated from the fraudulent activities. Recently, the agency announced the seizure of an additional £295,000 from Rastogi’s concealed pension funds, with all recovered funds intended for the public purse.
Now known as Vareen Kumar or Veerain Kumarr, Rastogi is currently under an ongoing proceeds of crime investigation, which has successfully reclaimed nearly £6 million in total. This includes proceeds from the sale of his Marylebone home and various assets, such as valuable watches.
Nick Ephgrave QPM, Director of the Serious Fraud Office, emphasized the commitment to justice, stating, “Our work to bring justice doesn’t stop at conviction. We proactively seek out and pursue the proceeds of crime in whatever form they take, from pension pots to luxury watches, to ensure criminals like Rastogi don’t benefit from their crimes.”