A total of £2.4m was confiscated at a hearing yesterday from six criminals, five of whom are currently jailed, City of London Police has reported.
The culprits profited from operations that led to hundreds of elderly investors being sold “worthless plots of land and valueless carbon credits”.
Officials said it was “one of the biggest ever cash seizures for the City of London Police”, which is the National Policing Lead for Fraud.
A City of London Police statement read: “Many of their victims, in both the land banking and carbon credit frauds, were well into retirement with no prospect of ever being able recoup the money they had lost.
“A blind 89-year-old man from Cardiff was reported to have paid £94,000 for plots of land in Dumbarton. He was told the area was primed for development when in reality it had been earmarked to be designated greenbelt land by the local council.
“An 87-year-old retired teacher, living alone, invested £87,000 with Capital Carbon Credits, telling how she was continually pressurised over the phone into handing over more and more of her savings until there was none left to give.”
Matthew Noad, 32, Clive Griston, 54, Harry Neal, 31, Kerry Golesworthy, 50, Linda Noad, 59, and Roger Noad, 62, must repay £2.37m to the scams’ victims or face more time behind bars.
A police statement outlined how it had taken place: “Between 2005 and 2010 Matthew Noad and Clive Griston ran a London-based boiler room, assisted by Harry Neal, which took in more than £10 million from victims conned into believing they would make returns of several hundred per cent from sites across the UK that were ripe for housing development.
“In reality the land, located in Dumbarton in Scotland, Towcester in Northampton and Collumpton in Devon, had little or no value, with much of it situated in greenfield belts, flood zones or areas of historical or environmental significance with no prospect of planning permission.
“The money that was not blown immediately was handed to Griston’s partner, Kerry Golesworthy and Matthew Noad’s parents, Linda and Roger to launder the funds through their own bank accounts.”
Detective Sergeant Mel Moody, from the City of London Police Asset Recovery Team, said: “We are very pleased that our investigation has now concluded with this gang of investment fraudsters and money launderers being stripped of both their liberty and all the proceeds of their crime. We now look forward to returning the recovered funds to the rightful owners.”

The six were ordered to repay the following:

• Matthew Noad = £872,341.34
• Clive Griston = £67,781.65
• Harry Neal = £42,896.83
• Kerry Golesworthy = £849,671.17
• Linda Noad = £271,999.75
• Roger Noad = £271,999.75
• Total - £2,376,690.49

The six were sentenced to the following, at the Old Bailey, in trials throughout 2014:

• Matthew Noad of Forest Drive in Kent, jailed to four years and eight months and disqualified from being a company director for ten years.
• Clive Griston of Larch Dene in Kent, jailed to four years and eight months and disqualified from being a company director for ten years.
• Harry Neal of London Lane in Bromley, jailed for three years.
• Kerry Golesworthy of Larch Dene in Kent, jailed for three-and-a-half years.
• Linda Noad of Stonehouse Road in Kent, two year custodial sentence suspended for two years.
• Roger Noad of Stonehouse Road in Kent, jailed for three years.