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Police raid Essex properties in £18m pension fraud probe

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Police have made six arrests as part of an investigation into a suspected pension scheme fraud that has conned victims out of £18m.

The arrests come after a criminal investigation led by the Pensions Regulator (TPR) into a scam in which roughly 370 people were persuaded to transfer money into eight pension schemes.

The regulator said members’ funds were passed on to companies linked with the suspects.

The probe began after a number of legitimate schemes received requests from members to transfer their savings into “suspicious” schemes and raised the alarm.

“The legitimate schemes in this case did the right thing by raising their concerns with us and stopping their members transferring out and potentially losing their life savings in what we believe to be scams,” said Nicola Parish, TPR executive director of frontline regulation.

The pensions industry estimates the current loss to the UK from pensions fraud is £600m, according to Action Fraud.

Raids were carried out at two residential properties and a business address in Essex as part of a joint operation with Essex Police.

Four people were interviewed under caution and a further two were arrested and questioned, all on suspicion of fraud offences. The suspects were released while the investigation continues.

TPR also suspended nine people from acting as trustees for a period of 12 months and appointed an independent trustee to the eight schemes at the centre of the investigation.