Convicted investment fraudster Michael Nascimento will spend an additional four years in prison, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA ) announced on Tuesday. Nascimento has been serving an eleven-year prison sentence since 2018, which was extended for failing to pay a confiscation order.

FCA Comments on Additional Court Sentence

According to the press release, Nascimento and five associates defrauded investors by running a series of boiler rooms that employed aggressive sales tactics, encouraging people over the phone to buy shares in a company that allegedly owned land on Madeira.

Investors were promised returns of up to 228% on their investments, but the funds never got to the market. Instead, they allowed Nascimento to maintain his pyramid operations and cover his personal expenses. The convict and his accomplices defrauded £2.8 million from over 170 retail investors. As mentioned above, Nascimento was convicted in 2018, but on 21 June 2021, a confiscation order was made at a separate hearing. The court ordered Nascimento to repay nearly £1 million to cover his obligations .

By the appointed date, Nascimento managed to repay less than half of the sum and as a result, the court ordered a four-year sentence extension on 16 December 2022. According to the FCA, even after future prison release, Nascimento will still have to pay off his debt, which is increasing in interest each day.

"Convicted fraudsters should not be able to retain the proceeds of their wrongdoing, and we will continue to ensure orders are not evaded," Mark Steward, the Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight at the FCA, commented.

The FCA adds that any money recovered from Nascimento will be used to compensate investors harmed by his fraudulent activities.

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Nascimento Was Sentenced Separately

As the leader of the entire operation, Nascimento was tried independently of his five accomplices in 2018. Previously, Charanjit Sandhu, Hugh Edwards, Stuart Rea, Jeannine Lewis, and Ryan Parker were sentenced to a total of 17.5 years imprisonment.

At the time, the FCA admitted that this was one of the largest investigations it had been involved in. Victims of cold-calling were often elderly or vulnerable members of the public.

"This brings to an end the FCA's largest fraud prosecution, which has seen the perpetrators imprisoned for a total of 28.5 years, affording justice to victims who were the subject of their calculated deception. We are continuing to fight for compensation for victims out of their assets," Steward commented in 2018.

Details of the Dirty Work

As mentioned earlier, scammers cold-called members of the public, encouraging them to invest in shares of a company that owns the land on Madeira. Profits of up to 228% were to be paid after obtaining permits to build 20 luxury villas, which would significantly increase the value of the land.

The scammers claimed to be working with Barclays, while the Four Seasons or the Hilton Hotel had allegedly agreed to purchase the property at a price of £43 million. As can be expected, none of this was true.