Walter Finch
BRITISH fashion boss Jody Smart has told the Olive Press she is appealing her conviction for fraud tied to the massive Continental Wealth Management (CWM) pension swindle.
Speaking through a lawyer, Smart said it was ‘uncertain’ if she would end up in prison after being sentenced to three and a half years by an Alicante court last week.
But, in a long statement, the businesswoman admitted she had been ordered to pay out €370,000 to two ‘creditors’.
However she insisted it was ‘as a consequence of loans between individuals, in which my…signature does not appear.’
She also denied the claim that ‘thousands of expatriates were affected’ and pointed out that the ruling did not refer to ‘a fraud of €35 million.’
This was a widely reported figure attributed to the dodgy investment scam that saw hundreds, if not thousands affected around Spain and abroad.
The court established that Smart, as the sole administrator of CWM, defrauded one victim of £300,000 under the false pretence of purchasing a property.
Along with colleague Alan Gorringe, who died before the verdict was reached, Smart was also found to have defrauded another victim of €70,000 through a sham loan agreement.
The trial was linked to the notorious CWM scandal that devastated the lives of numerous expats when the firm collapsed in 2017.
Smart was determined to be the sole administrator of a company called Continental Wealth Trust, while the court also named her then-husband Darren Kirby as being in on the scheme.
Kirby was found to be the sole administrator and partner of the related firm CWM.
Incredibly, at least half a dozen other employees and senior figures have also so far managed to evade justice.
READ MORE: CWM pension pot scam that syphoned millions from investors returns to court on Spain’s Costa Blanca
A separate court in Denia ruled in 2023 there was ‘insufficient evidence’ to prosecute four executives in a decision that devastated the victims.
Smart’s lawyer went on to defend her glamorous lifestyle, which he said was the ‘product of years of hard work’.
He insisted there should be ‘no objection to how my client spent her money.’
Her popular Benissa restaurant Oceania is ‘a business that generates employment and added value and had nothing to do with the legal proceedings’.
This week, a number of former victims queued up to give their stories to the Olive Press, while lawyers representing them insisted there would be more cases coming down the line.
A number of civil cases are also going through the legal system in the Isle of Man.
I read with interest you article on the CWM. . You have confused the readers by reprinting articles from 2019 coverd in Denia not Alicante as of 14/04/2025 . If at the peak of trade were did the thousands of pensioners.come from ? . The real story is the truth ! Starting with Josy Smart starting a new life cleaning a swimming pool owned by/ used by Darren Kirby whilst mrs Louise Kirby from Oliva was seeking divorce. ! How could he bank his business started with his brother in law . Interesting