A fake financial adviser has been given a four-year sentence for one count of fraudulent trading.
Ian James Hudson was also handed two 14-month terms, to run concurrently, for breaching section 19 of the Financial Services and Markets Act.
On 23 July 2021, he pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud and to running an advisory business, named Richmond Associates, which carried out regulated activities when it was neither authorised nor exempt.
The Financial Conduct Authority started legal proceedings against Hudson in May 2021.
According to the FCA register, Richmond Associates was an appointed representative of Zurich Advice Network until 2004.
But the regulator found that, between January 2008 and July 2019, Hudson advised on investments and purported to invest deposits received by him from clients on their behalf, despite not being authorised to do so.
He told clients the money would be invested in various financial vehicles or put to specific use, but this was not always the case, the FCA said.
He managed to raise around £2m ($2.7m, €2.3m) and used the deposits to repay existing clients, to make payments to other individuals, or to fund his own lifestyle.
Future action
The regulator is currently pursuing confiscation proceedings and sum recovered will be used to compensate his victims.
Mark Steward, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: “Hudson’s defrauding was calculated and persistent over a number of years, preying on victims who believed he was a financial adviser and trusted friend when he was neither of these things.
“We remind investors to check the FCA’s register of authorised person to ensure any financial adviser is authorised to provide financial advice by the FCA.”
