Four directors of companies involved in the transfer of £57m of pension pots - much of it into SIPPs - have been banned for a combined 34 years following an Insolvency Service investigation.

Much of the money was invested in storage units promising investors high returns which never materialised.

Karl Dunlop, Stuart Grehan and Ian Dunsford had previously accepted disqualification undertakings for their management roles in the group of companies involved in the transfer of pension funds.

Stuart Greehan, director of Sycamore Crown Ltd, agreed to a 9 year voluntary ban as a result of false and misleading statements made to encourage investors to transfer their pension pots.

Karl Dunlop (9 year ban), director of Imperial Trustee Services Ltd, and Ian Dunsford (7 year ban), director of Omni Trustees Ltd, agreed to voluntary bans for failing to act in the best interests of pension members and failing to ensure investments were adequately diverse.

Despite not formally being appointed a director of Transeuro Worldwide Holdings Ltd, Stephen Talbot recently accepted a 9-year disqualification undertaking for failing to explain what happened to millions pounds worth of assets.

All were found to have failed to act in clients’ best interests and have been involved in a catalogue of other corporate and pension failings.

Investigators have faced a challenge trying to find out what happened to the money. In the case of Stephen Talbot, a Panamanian foundation he was protector of was used to transfer £7.5m in funds without explanation.

The investigation, led by the Insolvency Service, centred on the conduct of the directors connected with Transeuro Worldwide Holdings Ltd (TWH), who helped fund two introducer firms Sycamore Crown Ltd (Sycamore) and Jackson Francis Ltd (JF).

The introducer firms cold-called members of the public, inviting them to transfer their pension funds into Self Invested Personal Pensions and pension schemes operated by Omni Trustees Ltd (Omni) and Imperial Trustee Services Ltd (Imperial), who provided trustee and administrator services for two occupational pension schemes – Henley Retirement Benefit Scheme (HRBS) and Capita Oak Pension Scheme (COPS).

Investigators found that the introducers from both Sycamore and Jackson Francis misled clients about their expertise and experience, offering ‘guaranteed’ returns designed to encourage them to transfer their existing pension funds.

As a result, more than £39m was paid into SIPPs, a further £10m into COPS and more than £8m to HRBS. Members’ funds were then largely invested in unregulated investments in storage units which ultimately “did not yield the level of returns promised to members.”

Ken Beasley, official receiver for the Insolvency Service’s Public Interest Unit, said that he had seen an increase in cases where members of the public have been persuaded to transfer pension pots into new schemes on the basis of unsubstantiated promises of higher returns which “inevitably never materialise.”

Omni and Imperial are currently the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) who are inviting members of HRBS and COPS to get in touch.