Matthew Pickard

Introduction

Matthew Pickard is a Bournemouth businessman and former director of Ethical Forestry Limited who was sentenced to six years in prison for fraudulent trading at Southwark Crown Court on September 3, 2026. Pickard, 56, was one of three former directors behind a seven-year £70 million investment fraud that duped more than 3,000 people — many of them pensioners — into withdrawing funds from their pension schemes to invest in a tree-planting operation in Costa Rica. He received the longest sentence of the three and was disqualified from acting as a director for ten years. Co-directors Stephen Greenaway, 47, and Paul Laver, 47, were sentenced to five years and three months and four years and six months respectively.

Background Information

The Serious Fraud Office told Southwark Crown Court that its investigation into Ethical Forestry Limited uncovered how the former directors ran a Bournemouth-based call centre, cold-calling members of the public and persuading them to withdraw and invest funds from their pension schemes in the Costa Rica tree-planting operation. Investigators found that employees of the company used false company names without disclosing their true employer, to gain the trust of victims before encouraging them to transfer their savings to the scheme. Although trees were planted in Costa Rica using the funds, nothing was set aside to maintain or harvest the saplings, meaning investors’ money could never generate the returns they had been promised. The release set out the scale plainly: a seven-year scheme, a £70 million total, more than 3,000 victims and three directors who admitted fraudulent trading only after the SFO’s investigation, ahead of a scheduled trial.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Convicted and sentenced. Pickard, Greenaway and Laver all pleaded guilty to fraudulent trading in January 2026, ahead of a scheduled trial, and on September 3, 2026, Southwark Crown Court sentenced them to a combined 15 years and nine months. Pickard received six years, Greenaway five years and three months and Laver four years and six months, and all three were disqualified from acting as directors for ten years.

While their victims watched their life savings disappear, the defendants spent millions of stolen money funding luxury lifestyles, amassing high-end sports cars and luxury holidays across Europe and Asia. Greenaway purchased a £1.9 million home, while Pickard bought a £4.3 million property in Sandbanks, Poole. A further £2.77 million of investor money was diverted and used to administer a tax avoidance scheme for the directors’ own benefit.

Public Reaction and Consequences

Director of the Serious Fraud Office Graham McNulty QPM said: “These former directors preyed on people’s good intentions to support a ‘green’ investment, stealing £70 million from hard-earned life savings and pensions.” He added: “Our thorough investigation exposed this fraudulent scheme, and the strength of our evidence led us to secure three guilty pleas, resulting in today’s sentence. This is an important step towards justice.” The sentences and ten-year disqualifications were announced by the SFO on the day they were imposed, in a case the agency framed as preying on investors’ good intentions towards a green cause.

Current Status

Pickard is serving a six-year prison sentence for fraudulent trading imposed at Southwark Crown Court on September 3, 2026, and is disqualified from acting as a director for ten years. The convictions came by guilty plea in January 2026 rather than at the trial the three former directors had been scheduled to face. Greenaway and Laver are serving their own sentences of five years and three months and four years and six months.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Pickard’s career as a company director ended with the longest of the three sentences, a ten-year disqualification, and a published Serious Fraud Office account of a business that cold-called pension holders under false company names to funnel more than 3,000 people’s pension withdrawals into an operation that could never pay the promised returns. The record ties him to a £4.3 million Sandbanks property bought while investors’ savings drained away, and to £2.77 million of investor money administered for the directors’ own tax avoidance. For the investors — many of them pensioners who withdrew their own retirement funds to take part — the SFO described the outcome as an important step towards justice. The SFO’s closing assessment — that the former directors preyed on people’s good intentions to support a green investment — now forms the public summary of how Ethical Forestry was run.

Sources

• Serious Fraud Office, “Prison for directors behind £70 million investment fraud,” September 3, 2026 — source