The former head of a North East financial advisory firm has appeared in court to deny fraud and money laundering charges totalling more than £64m.
John Dance, 50, of Murton village in North Tyneside, appeared at North Tyneside Magistrates Court and pleaded not guilty to nine criminal charges including fraud by abuse of position, fraud by false misrepresentation and money laundering.
The allegations cover a period from February 2014 until March 2023 when Dance was the principal partner at wealth management fund Vertus Asset Management, which later became the firm WealthTek and was based at Cobalt Business Park near Newcastle. Dance faces one charge of fraud between 2014 and 2020 amounting to £24.5m, another between 2020 and 2023 totalling £33.4m and another between 2021 and 2023 amounting to £6.3m.
The court heard that some of the money from the alleged fraud was used to buy racehorses. Dance owned several horses, including Bravemansgame which won the King George VI Chase at Kempton in 2022. The horse is no longer in his ownership.
Helen Law, prosecuting for the Financial Conduct Authority, outlined the allegations against Dance as being £64m worth of fraud from his clients while he was a partner in the wealth management firm, which related to three charges of fraud by abuse of position. He also faced three charges of fraud by false representation related to documents he allegedly used, she said. Dance also faced three money laundering charges relating to how funds were allegedly used, including the purchase of racehorses.
Josh Hart, defending, said: “The issues for trial will be whether the defendant’s conduct was dishonest or not. The defendant denies any allegation of dishonesty.” After hearing representation from the Financial Conduct Authority and from Mr Dance’s legal representative, chairwoman of the Bench Margaret Higgins said the case would be dealt with at the crown court.
Dance will next appear at Newcastle Crown Court on February 6 and he was granted conditional bail. The conditions included surrendering his passport and not contacting former employees or clients from a number of his former firms.