News

Tom Hartley appears in court accused of withholding information from fraud investigation

  • Supercar dealer Tom Hartley has appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court today
  • It is alleged he withheld information relating to Raedex Consortium from the Serious Fraud Office
  • The company went into administration in 2021 and has been under investigation since

Time 1:52 pm, May 26, 2023

Supercar dealer Tom Hartley has appeared in Westminster Magistrates’ Court today (May 26) after he was accused of withholding information from the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

It is alleged that the owner of Tom Hartley Cars withheld information from a fraud investigation into car leasing company Raedex Consortium that collapsed with debts of £28m.

Hartley, 61, pleaded not guilty to a charge of failing to comply with a requirement of the director of the SFO.


Raedex Consortium owned companies Buy2Let, PayGo Cars, Wheels4Sure and Rent2Own Cars and has been under investigation since 2021 when it went into administration.

The SFO said Hartley has been asked to provide information four times by investigators that he is suspected of holding about a suspect in the case.

The supercar dealer will go on trial at City of London Magistrates’ Court in October.


Hartley has been in the motor trade for 50 years and now runs his supercar dealership alongside his son Carl.

He operates from a dealership built within the Hartley Estate in Derbyshire where many millions of pounds worth of supercar can be found on any day, and the rich and famous are flown in to shop for their next luxury vehicle.

Speaking to Car Dealer for a recent interview, he claims his net worth is now in excess of £250m but says that he won’t give up working in the industry any time soon.

Subscribe to the Car Dealer weekly briefing

You can watch our video interview in full with Hartley at the top of this page. The video was part of our Selling Supercars series which is available to view on our YouTube channel.

In 2021, Tom Hartley won the Lifetime Achievement Award at our Used Car Awards for his 50 years in business.

Rebecca Chaplin's avatar

Rebecca has been a motoring and business journalist since 2014, previously writing and presenting for titles such as the Press Association, Auto Express and Car Buyer. She has worked in many roles for Car Dealer Magazine’s publisher Blackball Media including head of editorial.



More stories...

Advert
Server 108