FCA Charges Five Londoners With £2.75m Boiler Room Scam

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has charged a group of five individuals with investment fraud. The allegations against Michael Nascimento, Hugh Edwards, Stuart Rea, Ryan Parker (previously known as Ryan Sell) and Jeannine Lewis come under a thorough investigation by the regulatory watchdog.

The group appeared in court today facing charges of conspiracy to defraud and offenses under the Financial Services and Markets Act of 2000 and the Fraud Act of 2006. Two individuals are also charged with “preventing the course of justice contrary to the common law”, while one was also charged with Money Laundering Money Laundering Money laundering is a blanket term to describe the process by which criminals disguise the original ownership and proceeds of criminal conduct by making such proceeds appear to be derived from a legitimate source.Money laundering is an issue that traverses countless industries and sectors, which includes the financial services space. Though criminal money may be successfully laundered without the assistance of the financial sector, billions of dollars’ worth of criminally derived money are laund Money laundering is a blanket term to describe the process by which criminals disguise the original ownership and proceeds of criminal conduct by making such proceeds appear to be derived from a legitimate source.Money laundering is an issue that traverses countless industries and sectors, which includes the financial services space. Though criminal money may be successfully laundered without the assistance of the financial sector, billions of dollars’ worth of criminally derived money are laund Read this Term offenses.

The purported investment was in shares in a purported commercial development in Madeira

According to the FCA the group of individuals has been engaged in the sale and promotion of shares in Atlantic Equity LLC which is also known as Berkeley Brookes LLC. Between July 2013 and March 2014, the charged individuals have allegedly been involved in 'boiler room' operations via four companies.

The firms First Capital Wealth Limited, Bishops of Mayfair Limited, Wallberg Dillion Reid Limited and Sterling Capital Corporation Limited have been operating from Docklands, London.

The FCA outlines that according to its findings the defendants have been involved in the operations of the above mentioned companies and solicited from 175 investors close to £2.75 million.

A boiler room scam tactic typically involves a Call Center Call Center In general, a call center is defined as an office equipped with the technology and hardware to handle and process a large volume of incoming or outgoing phone calls. Call Centers today have expanded from simple telecommunication to all forms of communication, including online customer support and live chat features and the use of VOIP, including video calls. Initially, call centers were designed for selling or taking orders and for customer support. Call centers of yesterday were the precursor o In general, a call center is defined as an office equipped with the technology and hardware to handle and process a large volume of incoming or outgoing phone calls. Call Centers today have expanded from simple telecommunication to all forms of communication, including online customer support and live chat features and the use of VOIP, including video calls. Initially, call centers were designed for selling or taking orders and for customer support. Call centers of yesterday were the precursor o Read this Term which is operating under the cover of an allegedly legitimate financial investment company. After reaching prospective victims via phone the boiler room operators sell a questionable product to investors. The mode of operation of the scheme was depicted in the movie “The Wolf of Wall Street”.

The investment offered to the victims of the fraud in this case were shares in a purported commercial development in Madeira.

The trial of the group has been set for the 4th of September 2017.