The Financial Conduct Authority has issued a final notice against Luke Durrant prohibiting him from performing any function in relation to any regulated activity.
In February 2020, he was found guilty of two counts of fraud by abuse of position and was sentenced to four years in prison in June 2020.
According to the regulator, Durrant was an approved independent financial adviser working for a company called Sophex Limited – which traded as Lifetime Financial Solutions Limited. He was there between January 2012 and November 2018.
The offences in question took place between May 2016 and November 2018 when he set up a hidden bank account in the name of Lifetime Financial Solutions. The account allowed him to move cheques, which were supposed to go to Sophex as diverted client fees, into his own business or personal account.
Some of the clients affected were elderly or vulnerable who collectively lost around £300,000 ($325,221, €335,490) due to Durrant’s “dishonest and sophisticated scheme”, the judge at Norwich Crown Court said.
The FCA concluded the former adviser is not a fit and proper individual and that he lacks honesty and integrity. As a result, he is banned from performing “any function in relation to any regulated activity carried on by any authorised person, exempt person or exempt professional firm”, the watchdog said.
