The former office manager of a company at the centre of an investigation that the UK's Pensions Regulator believes might involve a £13¾ million scam has been convicted of refusing to provide relevant information, the regulator says.

The regulator's website states that Karen Turgut of Bromley in Kent worked at Friendly Pensions Ltd and refused to give information to the regulator, also failing to supply documents, despite being required to do so by law.

She was ordered to pay more than £4,000 at Brighton Magistrates’ Court after being convicted of refusing to provide information and documents required under s72 Pensions Act 2004 without a reasonable excuse. The case is the third criminal conviction that the regulator has secured.

Regulatory staff wanted Ms Turgut to answer questions and hand over documents about the emails she had sent and received while working at the firm. When she failed to do so voluntarily she was served with a notice requiring her to provide information to the regulator. The notice – known as a section 72 notice – stated that a failure to comply with it would be a criminal offence. According to the regulator Ms Turgut still refused to co-operate without giving a good reason.

The magistrates convicted Ms Turgut in her absence of one offence of refusing to provide information and one offence of refusing to produce documents required under s72 Pensions Act 2004 without a reasonable excuse, contrary to s77.

The magistrates said that Ms Turgut that had had plenty of opportunities to speak to regulatory staff but had simply chosen to ignore them, according to the regulator, which also states that they ordered her to pay a £4,000 fine, £550 costs and a £170 victim surcharge.

The regulator says that Ms Turgut continues to be in breach of the s72 notice and that it can, if it wishes, press further criminal charges, with the threat of further fines, until she complies. A breach of s72 can result in an unlimited fine.