Tycoon sentenced over share scam

Trevor and Wendy Baines were both convicted after a five-week trial

A "Rich List" Manx millionaire found guilty of money laundering and false accounting has been jailed for six years at Douglas courthouse.

Trevor Baines, 69, with an estimated fortune of £130m, was found guilty of a $175m (£110m) money laundering scam in October.

His wife Wendy Baines, 50, was given a suspended nine month sentence after being found guilty of false accounting.

Baines will serve his sentence at Jurby prison on the Isle of Man.

The couple's con involved a "pump and dump" scheme using false accounting and bogus market reports to hugely inflate the value of shares - then sell them to pocket a fortune.

'Dirty money'

He had always denied the charge and claimed he did not know or suspect the money had been obtained dishonestly.

He was ranked at 349th on the Sunday Times Rich List in 2008, alongside rock stars Eric Clapton and Phil Collins, after making his fortune working for the Africa House Group, his trading and private banking operation.

John Mitchell, head of the Manx Financial Crime Unit, said: "The sentencing sends out a strong message on two levels, globally the island will not be seen as a safe haven for dirty money.

"To our local financial sector, who are after all the gatekeepers to the island's financial integrity - that such conduct will not be condoned and if caught, offenders stand to receive substantial prison sentences."