Business director Taheer Sardar was sentenced on 10 May to 18 months’ imprisonment for perverting the course of justice.
His sentence at Southwark Crown Court came after Sardar pleaded guilty on 7 May 2024, the FCA said in a statement.
Sardar was interviewed by the FCA as part of an investigation it was conducting into a sophisticated boiler room scam that had defrauded 120 investors of £1.3m.
Three individuals, Mr Mirza, Mr Solaja and Mr Vickers were subsequently convicted and sentenced to 23 years for that fraud following prosecution by the FCA.
In his interview, Sardar, acting with Mirza, provided a forged document, which he claimed had been signed by ‘Mohammed Khan’. Sardar sought to use the document to bolster a defence raised by Raheel Mirza and Opeyemi Solaja, who had claimed – without evidence – that someone named ‘Mohammed Khan’ was the architect of the fraud they had been involved in.
The FCA did not find that Sardar was involved in the fraud itself, but he provided the document in order to mislead the FCA.
At Sardar’s sentencing on 10 May 2024, the judge, Recorder Gavaghan, said: ‘This was a sophisticated attempt using a forged document to undermine the course of justice…[it was] a very serious offence that strikes at the very core of the legal system.’
Steve Smart, joint executive director, enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: “Mr Sardar’s conviction and sentence, is a strong warning to anyone who may be tempted to try to help others escape justice – there is no stone we will leave unturned.
“Perverting the course of justice is a serious offence, and the FCA will not hesitate to take action when it identifies this has taken place.”
