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Date Published: 07/10/2026

British fraudster, Jody Smart, finally jailed in Alicante after years of appeals

Former CWM boss has entered Alicante prison nearly nine years after the pension firm collapsed

Nearly nine years after Continental Wealth Management collapsed, Jody Smart has finally begun serving a prison sentence for fraud.

Smart, who is now legally known as Jody Pearson, voluntarily handed herself in on October 5 and entered Alicante Cumplimiento prison, where she will serve three and a half years. Her final appeal was declared inadmissible by Spain’s Supreme Court after the High Court of Valencia had already upheld both her conviction and sentence.

The case dates back to the collapse of CWM in 2017, when around 1,000 predominantly British retirees on the Costa Blanca were left facing the loss of some or all of their pension savings. The total losses have been estimated at around €35 million.

The prison sentence relates specifically to two victims, Sally Anne Hodgson and Tim Benjamin, who gave money to CWM in connection with a Costa Blanca property which the court found did not exist.

Hodgson lent the company €70,000 and never recovered it. Benjamin lost €300,000. Smart was ordered to pay the two victims a combined €373,000.

A third complainant in the case, Mark Davison, lost around €800,000. Tragically, he died before the verdict and therefore never saw Smart convicted or sent to prison.

Hodgson, who had worked as an administrative assistant at CWM, said she hopes Smart's time in prison will give her an opportunity to reflect on what happened.

“I hope that this time away will give her time to think about her actions, and how she has mistreated those around her,” she said.

Smart had appealed against her conviction following the Alicante court's decision in April 2025. The High Court of Valencia rejected that appeal in October 2025, before the Supreme Court refused to examine her final challenge.

She has also applied to Spain’s Justice Ministry for a pardon, although court papers show she abandoned a request to delay her prison sentence while that application was being considered.

The wider CWM case involved far more people than those directly covered by Smart's conviction. A criminal investigation involving roughly 1,000 victims collapsed in Denia in 2023 after a judge ruled there was insufficient evidence to prosecute four other executives.

Meanwhile, Smart continued running Oceana, a beach club and restaurant in Benissa, as well as a wedding planning business, while photographs posted on social media showed holidays in places including Venice, Greece and Thailand.

For those who lost their retirement savings, however, the consequences of the CWM collapse have lasted far longer than the court proceedings.

Smart is now behind bars, but for many of the people affected, the financial losses and the years spent waiting for justice remain.

“It’s a pity that we can’t get Jody for all her other misdemeanours,” Hodgson said. “It wouldn’t be three-and-a-half years then, but more like 35 years.”

Image: Facebook

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