Two UK men get 52 and 42 months for a boiler room that sold stock and fake carbon credits to elderly victims, over $16 million lost
Christopher Wright and Steven Hooper, citizens of the United Kingdom, were sentenced on June 30, 2022 in the Southern District of New York to 52 and 42 months in prison for an over $16 million international telemarketing scheme. Call centers cold-called victims in the UK, who were primarily elderly or retired. From about 2011 to 2015 they were sold "carbon credits" that, the U.S. Attorney's Office said, were fake.
- Year
- 2022
- Where
- United States, United Kingdom
- Outcome
- Sentenced
- Reported loss
- $16.0 million
- Victims
- Not stated in the sources
- Schemes
- Carbon credit fraud
- Last reviewed
- 2026-10-28
The facts, as recorded
- Judge Jed S. Rakoff imposed the sentences, 52 months for Wright and 42 months for Hooper, after both pleaded guilty.
- From about 2009 to 2015 they and co-conspirators used telemarketing call centers to identify and cold-call potential victims, who were primarily elderly or retired people in the United Kingdom.
- Telemarketers promised short-term, high-yield, no-risk returns, when the investments were high-risk, illiquid and in some instances entirely fictitious. Many victims were persuaded to buy more under the false pretense that they could not sell their holdings until they did.
- Victims wired funds to bank accounts in the United States in the names of corporate entities controlled by a co-conspirator. Wright and Hooper helped email purchase contracts and investment certificates.
- From about 2009 to 2011 the scheme sold stock in a Florida company, DirectView Holdings, as a no-risk, short-term investment likely to increase over 100 percent, although its annual report to the SEC warned that it might be forced to cease operations.
- From about 2011 to 2015 the callers sold fraudulent carbon credits, appealing to victims by saying the investments would be environmentally friendly and help address the climate crisis. Victims were falsely promised the investments could be easily sold, carried no risk and would yield a significant short-term return. The credits and offsets sold were fake and did not represent any actual carbon credits or offsets.
- Victims who tried to sell found they could not, and never received a refund of principal or any return.
- To launder the proceeds they set up overseas bank accounts in Cyprus, Switzerland and the United Kingdom in the names of shell companies.
- Victims lost over $16 million. Wright was ordered to pay restitution of $16,407,459.52 and forfeiture of $1,632,443.10, and Hooper restitution of $14,457,104.19 and forfeiture of $760,977.12.
Why this case matters
It shows how the carbon label was used in a boiler room that had been selling something else. From about 2009 to 2011 the callers sold stock in a company; from about 2011 they sold carbon credits, and the release says they appealed to victims by claiming the investments would be environmentally friendly and would help address the climate crisis. The release also describes the credits as fake: they did not represent any actual carbon credits or offsets.
The pressure to buy more
The release describes victims being persuaded to make additional investments under the false pretense that they would not be permitted to sell their holdings until they bought more. It does not say how many victims there were.
The caveat
Wright and Hooper pleaded guilty and were sentenced, so the conduct above is what the U.S. Attorney’s Office says the indictment, court filings and statements in court showed, as reported in the IRS Criminal Investigation release. The loss of over $16 million is the release’s figure for the whole scheme, which covered the DirectView stock as well as the carbon credits, and the release does not split it.
Sources
- Operators of over $16 million international boiler room fraud sentenced to years in prison. Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation. Accessed 2026-10-28. Supports: Every fact above: the sentences, the judge, the call centers, the DirectView stock, the carbon credits that were fake, the wires to US accounts, the shell company accounts in Cyprus, Switzerland and the UK, the losses, the restitution and the forfeiture.