Following a 5 week trial the two founders (Peter and Andrew Currie) of Collateral UK have been convicted of both fraud and money laundering.
Before its financial collapse in 2018 Collateral offered peer-to-peer investments via its website by fraudulently claiming it was both authorised and regulated by the FCA. In 2015 Peter Currie swopped the details of a separate company he was selling for details of Collateral on the FCA register, and as such the company managed to persuade customers to invest in loans via the Collateral platform.
Even after the FCA discovered the fraudulent register change and ordered the company to cease trading it continued to receive investments and removed almost £750,000 from client accounts.
Later a further £88,000 was also removed by an unauthorised administrator.
The FCA said in a statement following the trial:
“The integrity of the FCA Register is vital to consumer protection. The falsification of the official record by Peter Currie enabled Collateral to masquerade as an authorised firm to defraud consumers, and the jury has quite rightly concluded this conduct was criminal.
Both men will be sentenced on 7th July 2023.