SUSPECTED luxury watches have been seized in a warrant related to a £76 million care home fraud investigation. 

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO), with support from Dorset Police, executed a search warrant at a home in Dorset on Tuesday, September 3.

A total of 12 watches branded as Patek Philippe, Rolex and Hublot were recovered, worth more than £500,000 if authentic.

The watches will be taken to a secure storage location before being authenticated and valued. If the watches are found to be fake, they may be destroyed.

A warrant was obtained on suspicion that evidence and items including luxury watches, that may have been acquired using the proceeds of crime, were being stored at the property.

It is related to SFO's investigation into the UK registered property developer Carlauren Group, which saw two properties raided and three people arrested back in March.

The group collapsed into administration in November 2019, leaving elderly residents to vacate their homes and more than 600 investors out of pocket.

Over four years, the company purchased 23 properties across the UK, offering an annual ten per cent return on investment in its renovation of these properties into high-end care homes. Only nine were ever operational.

Nick Ephgrave QPM, director of the SFO, said: “We work hard to recover criminal assets and prevent suspected offenders from enjoying – or concealing – the spoils of their crimes.

“Many investors remain affected by the collapse of the Carlauren Group and we are progressing our investigation at pace to deliver justice for them.”