Solicitor Mark Fallon and four others jailed after £6m scam targeted over 150 victims, many vulnerable
A solicitor has been jailed for his role in a devastating £6 million investment fraud that preyed on elderly and vulnerable people across the UK. Mark Fallon, 60, was among five sentenced this week after a web of fake schemes left over 150 victims robbed of their savings, their trust shattered.
The gang peddled two bogus investment operations, one involving a litigation funding outfit, the other a corporate bond scam promising false returns of up to 7%. Instead of delivering profits, the schemes rerouted investors’ money to line the fraudsters’ pockets or repay earlier dupes—a classic Ponzi setup.
City of London Police launched their investigation back in August 2016 when red flags emerged. One company, Sable International Ltd, had transferred unusually large sums to a new law firm, MR Finch. It was soon revealed that Sable had orchestrated a £3.5m bond scheme, claiming it invested in distressed properties. That vehicle was connected to Equitable Law Capital (ELC), another fraudulent enterprise registered in Lancashire and marketed as a litigation funding venture with sky-high interest offers.
But there were no real investments—just a paper trail of deceit.
Embed from Getty ImagesDavid Clarkson, 70, from Blackburn, emerged as the ringleader. Dubbed the “controlling mind” by the court, he set up front companies in Switzerland and the Seychelles to wash the stolen cash. Clarkson’s appetite for lies knew no bounds: at one point, he cloned a regulated insurer and impersonated a broker to lure new victims. When finally cornered, he faked medical documents to dodge trial.
Detective Constable Jay Smith from the City of London Police’s specialist ops team called it “a brutal betrayal of trust.” He said: “These fraudsters stole life savings from hundreds, abusing their trusted positions out of pure greed. Clarkson showed no remorse.”
Among the shattered lives was an elderly woman who lost £80,000 in the ELC scam—money never recovered. Others described being harassed and manipulated. Some victims died before they ever saw justice served.
Clarkson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud, money laundering, and perverting the course of justice. Southwark Crown Court handed him a sentence of seven years and six months in prison.
Fallon, once a practising solicitor from Rossendale, was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering. He was sentenced to four years and six months behind bars.
His legal fall from grace began years earlier. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal fined him £25,000 in 2021 for his role in a dubious funding deal that bore all the signs of a scam. MR Finch, Fallon’s firm, had previously received over £1m from Sable International Finance Limited.
Despite this, Fallon remained on the roll until this conviction and was listed as a director of MR Finch Limited—dissolved only this January—and Legal 4 Ltd, based in Bury.
Both ELC and Sable entered administration and voluntary liquidation in late 2016, owing more than £4 million collectively.
For victims, however, the real toll isn’t just financial—it’s emotional, psychological, and lasting. The scars from this fraud, said officers, may never fully heal.
