The Analysis News & Opinions
Fraudster is convicted after illegal operation
A confiscation order totaling over £170,000 has been secured by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) against a convicted fraudster. The order of £171,913.60 was made
against Manraj Singh Virdee in Southwark Crown Court. This follows an FCA prosecution in which
Mr Virdee was sentenced to a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, for defrauding investors of over £600,000. The conviction related to misleading
consumers, fraud, and the illegal operation of an unauthorised investment scheme worth over half a million pounds. The effect of the confiscation order is to
confiscate all of Mr Virdee’s criminal proceeds. Mark Steward, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the
FCA, said: “This confiscation will go some way to compensating Mr Virdee’s victims whom he misled and defrauded. The FCA reminds investors to beware of anyone who is not authorised to carry out the activities they are offering.” The court found that Mr Virdee had
derived a benefit of £666,730.58 from his criminal conduct, but that the total realisable assets for confiscation were £171.913.60. Mr Virdee lost the rest of the victims’ monies through unsuccessful FX trading and maintaining his lifestyle. The monies will be used to compensate
the 24 victims of his crimes who lost in the region of £650,000 in total. If Mr Virdee does not pay the confiscation
order on time, he is liable to be sentenced to a further two years in prison.
Industry warns over Brexit future
Senior figures from the credit and collections industry have urged caution as the UK moves towards Brexit. Speaking as
the House of Commons
approved the EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill at second reading, Stephen Jones, chief executive of UK Finance, said: “This vote takes us one step closer to an exit from the EU, but is only the beginning of what is required to restore the predictable legal and economic backdrop necessary for businesses including financial services firms to operate successfully. “The hard work must now continue, and
we hope the UK and EU will focus quickly on the sector-specific detail regarding our future relationship that needs to be agreed to avoid the renewed threat of a cliff-edge exit at the end of 2020. “Services account for 80% of UK GDP
and financial services specifically deliver a significant balance of payments surplus for the UK, and must therefore be at the centre of the UK’s negotiating position. Both sides will benefit from maintaining deep and
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integrated financial and capital markets, ensuring firms can continue providing key cross-border financial products and services to their customers.
www.CCRMagazine.com “The UK should also work with the
EU to build a clear institutional mechanism for regulatory dialogue, as well as to maintain a strong voice at a global level to influence standard-setting bodies key to the industry.” Meanwhile,
following the Bank of
England's discussion paper on stress testing the financial stability implications of climate change, Mr Jones added: “The banking and finance industry has a key role to play in supporting a sustainable future as firms embed climate risk and green finance into the heart of their business models. “The publication of today’s discussion
paper is an important step towards testing the resilience of the financial system to climate risk. “Scenario analysis is an integral part of
the regime for assessing potential exposure to climate-related risks and it is good to see the Bank of England engaging in an early dialogue on the approach to be adopted in the 2021 Biennial Exploratory Scenario exercise.”
January 2020
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