Louis Tomlinson targeted by pension fraud in Doncaster Rovers bid, court hears

Former One Direction member Louis Tomlinson was reportedly duped by pension-fund criminals during a crowdfunded bid to buy Doncaster Rovers, the club he supports from his boyhood. The scheme, launched in 2013, sought to raise about £6 million from fans to take the club forward, with Tomlinson serving as a public face of the fundraising effort in 2014. Prosecutors say the primary investors who pledged around £500,000 were, in fact, a gang of criminals who siphoned retirement savings to support the bid. A Belize-based firm, Sequentia Capital SA, was named to receive 70% of Doncaster Rovers if the takeover had succeeded, a detail central to the case that prosecutors described as part of the plan to launder stolen funds.

Prosecutors said Phelan, 62, was bankrupt and the only cash he had on the table was £500,000 donated by a member of his fraud gang. The court heard that Tomlinson was approached in January 2014 and joined the effort after two failed takeover attempts, with Tomlinson and former Doncaster Rovers chairman John Ryan acting as public faces for a crowdfunding drive to raise the remaining cash. The crowdfunder ultimately raised about £600,000, far short of the £6 million target, and investigators allege that the investment promises were built on money drawn from stolen pension funds. The gang reportedly met Tomlinson at his home in Cheshire and invited members to a concert in Dublin, where a deal was signed that would hand over 70% of Doncaster Rovers to Sequentia Capital SA if the bid had succeeded. Tomlinson has said he was misled and that he would not earn a penny from the club; he insisted his passion for Doncaster Rovers remained.

The trial at Leeds Crown Court heard that the firm was sourcing its funds from stolen pension money, with prosecutors describing the scheme as an effort to fund a luxurious lifestyle rather than legitimate investment. Prosecutor Tim Hannam quoted the prosecutors’ view that one defendant “was no doubt delighted to be part of a scheme which basically provided him with free money from people’s life savings funding his lifestyle, his wife’s debts and his mortgage for his big, lovely house with its long drive.” Some pensioners are believed to have lost life savings in the scheme, though there is no suggestion that Tomlinson knew about the pension fraud.

The defendants — Kevin Phelan and his co-defendants Daniel Giles and Adrian Bashforth — were convicted in connection with the pension-fraud case last month and are due to be sentenced in January, with authorities signaling that significant prison terms are likely. Tomlinson’s representatives have been contacted for comment. The case underscores ongoing concerns about the vulnerability of fan-backed fundraising efforts to fraud, particularly when elderly savers and complex financial arrangements intersect with celebrity-driven campaigns in the sports world.