Manhunt for corrupt city boss who stole £70m to fund playboy lifestyle

Global manhunt for corrupt City boss, 41, who’s on the run for stealing £70M from investors in Ponzi-style scam to fund his playboy lifestyle – as he’s convicted of fraud in his absence

• Anthony Constantinou duped hundreds of victims to fund his luxury lifestyle
• The convicted sex offender denied fraud but went on the run during his trial 
• He’s been convicted in his absence with an international arrest warrant issued 

A global manhunt has been launched for a corrupt City finance boss who stole £70million from investors in a Ponzi-style scam.  

Anthony Constantinou enjoyed a playboy lifestyle driving a fleet of flash motors and riding around on a superbike branded with his Capital World Markets (CWM) logo.

The 41-year-old crook spent millions on sponsorship deals designed to make CWM appear successful and draw in potential clients.

He duped hundreds of people into believing he could bring investors returns of 60 per cent a year on ‘risk-free transactions’ on the Foreign Exchange (FX) markets between 2013 and 2015. But instead of investing, he pocketed the cash. 

The conman – who was jailed in 2016 for sexual assault – was today convicted in his absence at Southwark Crown Court after going on the run during his trial. An international arrest warrant has now been issued. 

Anthony Constantinou duped hundreds of people into believing he could bring investors returns of 60 per cent a year on ‘risk-free transactions’ on the Foreign Exchange (FX) markets

City of Police detectives discovered evidence of Constantinou’s extravagant spending, including £3million spent on lifestyle events, including his wedding and a CWM launch party.

During his police interview Constantinou denied knowledge of fraud and replied no comment to all further questions by officers.

He denied but was convicted in his absence of fraud by false representation, two counts of fraudulent trading and four counts of money laundering by a jury.

Constantinou did not attend the later stages of his trial triggering a global manhunt for him. If he is not caught he will be sentenced in his absence on June 9 2023.

Emma Beazley from the CPS said: ‘This was a callous scam targeting members of the public. Many people lost their hard-earned money because of Constantinou’s greed and false promises in this fake investment scheme.

‘We would like to thank the investigative work of the City of London Police in this case to help us bring this case to trial and the support of victims to help serve justice for them.’

Detective Inspector Nichola Meghji, from the City of London Police, said: ‘This has been a long-running and complex investigation.

‘Anthony Constantinou is a career criminal who is out to make as much money for himself as possible, with no regard for anyone else. 

Constantinou enjoyed a playboy lifestyle riding around on a superbike branded with his Capital World Markets (CWM) logo

‘Throughout this lengthy investigation, Constantinou has continued to try to deceive officers and deny any wrongdoing. In a further move to deny any involvement in this case, he decided to stop attending his trial.

‘We are glad that the jury has seen through his lies and found him guilty.’

READ MORE: City finance boss, 34, who showed off his office to Princess Anne faces jail after forcing hot wasabi into mouth of woman he sexually assaulted at ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ work drinking sessions

Constantinou, who ran a ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ style trading floor, was jailed for a year in 2016 for sexually assaulting two women as he celebrated making millions of pounds.

The crooked finance chief stuck his tongue down one woman’s throat after force-feeding her eye-wateringly hot wasabi paste from a £500 sushi platter.

He groped another woman’s breasts and forcibly kissed her at a bash thrown to toast a £1million profit.

The millionaire’s son was photographed showing Princess Anne around his high-rise headquarters in the City of London’s Heron Tower and his firm once had a sponsorship deal with Chelsea Football Club.

He threw wads of cash at employees, poured vodka down their throats and smashed crystal flutes as he downed champagne at his wild after work celebrations likened to scenes in hit Hollywood film the Wolf of Wall Street.

Father-of-two Constantinou claimed his victims were lying to get his money. But he was convicted of carrying out the assaults during five-months of hedonism between October 2014 and February 2015.

Constantinou had arrived at the Old Bailey with his wife Penny before Judge Nicholas Cooke QC jailed him for 12 months in December 2016.

The judge said: ‘Sexual bullying in the workplace is a serious matter.

‘It is serious aggravating that the two offences are examples of people high up in an organisation committed against people who are in one way or another dependent on that organisation.’

Constantinou is the youngest son of fashion tycoon Aristos Constantinou, who was gunned down in his Bishop’s Avenue mansion in 1985 when Anthony was aged just three.

The conmen pocketed £70million from investors and went on the run during his trial. Pictured is one of his Range Rovers funded through his fraud

The unsolved case was dubbed the ‘Silver Bullet Murder’ due to the six nickel-jacketed slugs that ended Aristos’s rags-to-riches life.

Constantinou served two years in the army in Greece before getting a job in the City, setting up his own company aged 31.

He offered employees at his successful business big pay packets and a place in his work family.

But they described the reality as a ‘volatile environment’ where ‘everyone was always walking on eggshells’.

One woman told how she was regularly told to ‘f*** off’, but once thrown a £2,000 bundle of notes as a bonus.

Constantinou was said to regularly drink at work and his wild after-work parties were compared to the antics of Leonardo DiCaprio’s fictional stockbroker.

One victim told jurors how she was ‘treated like a piece of meat’ after a boozy business meeting in his 21st-floor offices on 20 February last year.

The woman said he cracked open a bottle of red wine before inviting her to stay for a drink, telling her: ‘You can’t say no to a Greek.’

He then ordered £500 worth of sushi before telling pals: ‘Hasn’t she got a cracking a**e and amazing t**s?’

The woman told how Constantinou poured Grey Goose vodka down the necks of his employees and smashed crystal glasses as he said cheers.

Police have now issued an international arrest warrant after he was convicted in his absence at court for fraud. Constantinou (pictured) was previously jailed for sexual assault in 2016

‘It was literally like that film Wolf of Wall Street,’ she said in a police interview.

‘The wasabi was on the table. He got a big chunk of it and put it all in my mouth with his hand,’ she said.

‘I wanted to spit it out. I walked around the table, and went outside to spit it out in my hands.

‘He grabbed me, got me by the shoulders, pinned me against the glass partition and stuck his tongue down my throat.’

The woman continued: ‘He was kissing me in the most derogatory, disgusting, you are a piece of meat kind of way.’

After he was pushed off, Constantinou told her: ‘You can’t f*** with me,’ and claimed he paid £100,000 to one female employee so she ‘does everything I want’.

The court heard the woman’s bosses later cancelled their contract with Constantinou’s firm over his behaviour during and after their business meeting.

She said her life has been ‘completely turned upside down’ by the attack, adding: ‘If I could rewind time and never have gone to that meeting, I would in a heartbeat because I wouldn’t wish this feeling on anyone.’

A second victim said Constantinou attacked her at an after-work drinks party called to celebrate because ‘the dealers made a £1million profit’ on October 29 2014.

She said she was plied with glasses of vodka and orange as nightclub-style music blared in the background.

Constantinou was convicted of sexual assault after she told jurors he pushed her against the frosted glass in the office reception, kissed her face and touched her all over her body.

But the jury could not agree on allegations that he followed her into the ladies toilets, then grabbed her face and kissed her when she came out of the cubicle.

They were also deadlocked on a charge that she was in the stock room when Constantinou allegedly cornered her, pulled her pants down and exposed himself before molesting her.

Then living in Wildwood Road, Hampstead, north London, denied six counts of sexual assault against three women. He was convicted of two charges against two women.

He was cleared of squeezing another woman’s bottom and the jury failed to reach verdicts on three counts of sexual assault.

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