• Two women tell ITV News Meridian’s Wesley Smith about the devastating impact of the fraud.

Two women who were conned out of hundreds of thousands of pounds in an elaborate pension fraud say their lives have been destroyed.

Lois Davies and her husband, from Surrey, were among nearly 3000 people who invested in Ethical Forestry’s tree investment scheme.

They thought they could grow his £130,000 pension while making the world a better place, but have now been left with nothing.

Instead the company directors, Matthew Pickard, Stephen Greenaway and Paul Laver, flaunted the cash on luxury homes, sports cars and extravagant holidays.

Today the group were jailed for a total of 15 years and nine months.

“I have no faith in the world anymore,” said Lois.

She added: “We were looking for something that was ethically good for the planet.

“We really did our research and it’s very sad to me that it backfired.

“We felt so stupid at the time, really stupid.”

Lois, 67, hoped to retire in her late 50s but said she cannot afford to give up work, nor can her husband, despite his ill-health at 70-years-old.

She said the ordeal has taken a toll on her husband’s health, claiming the stress of the scam contributed to three heart surgeries.

“I am very bitter about it, because my husband worked hard for a long time,” she said.

Lois added: “They’ve destroyed lives.

“Luckily we can still work, but how long can you work? You don’t know that, anything could happen.”

After dreams of paying off their mortgage were shattered, the couple are now preparing to sell their home.

Andrea Panayi, 60, from Middlewich, Cheshire was another victim who hoped to secure her future and pay off her mortgage but has since lost £121,000 of her pension to Ethical Forestry.

“I felt such a fool,” she said.

“There’s been times I’ve been really suicidal over it.”

Andrea is now warning others to seek proper financial advice before making any investments.

Around £70million was invested into Ethical Forestry before the company collapsed in 2015.

Investors were promised that trees would be planted in Costa Rica and cared for until they could be harvested and sold for profit.

However, no money was set aside to maintain the trees and instead the company directors took out £14million through a Tax Avoidance Scheme.

Ethical Forestry staff, based in Bournemouth, Dorset, recalled the directors arriving in high-end sport cars including Ferraris, Porsches and Audis, and moving them before customers arrived.

After pleading guilty to fraudulent trading, Pickard was sentenced to six years, Greenaway was sentenced to five years and three months and Laver was sentenced to four years and six months.

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