Gerard Lee Bevan (9 November 1869 – 24 April 1936) was a British financier, the man "most responsible for the entire City Equitable debacle", and "a daring and unprincipled scoundrel".
In December 1922 he was convicted at the Old Bailey of fifteen charges of fraud and sentenced to seven years' penal servitude.
In a major 1925 court case, Re City Equitable Fire Insurance Co, the company lost £1,200,000 (equivalent to £86,450,000 in 2023) in failure of investments and the large scale fraud of the chairman, ‘a daring and unprincipled scoundrel’.
The auditors were sued too, but the Court of Appeal held they were honest and exonerated by provisions in the company’s articles.
They bought a house in Upper Grosvenor Street in Mayfair, London, and Bevan collected Chinese porcelain.