Two brothers have been convicted at Southwark Crown Court for removing £750,000 from a failed investment firm.

In a prosecution brought by the Financial Conduct Authority, Peter Currie (59) was convicted by unanimous verdicts of two counts of fraud and one of money laundering, while Andrew Currie (57) was convicted of one count of fraud and one of money laundering, following a five-week trial. Andrew Currie was acquitted of one count of fraud.

Before collapsing into administration in February 2018, the investment firm, Collateral, offered peer-to-peer style investments on a website fraudulently claiming it was authorised and regulated by the FCA.

In December 2015, Peter Currie, a Collateral Director, swapped the details of a separate company he had agreed to sell – Regal Pawnbrokers – for the details of Collateral on the FCA register. Over the next 18 months, the company was advertised as authorised to persuade people to invest in loans on the Collateral platform.

The FCA notified Peter Currie In January 2018 that they had uncovered the register change and ordered that Collateral cease its unauthorised business. After this, Collateral not only continued to receive investments, but Peter and Andrew Currie also removed approximately £750,000 from the firm’s client accounts.

At around the same time, the brothers appointed, without informing the FCA as required, an administrator and transferred a further £88,000 from Collateral funds.

“The integrity of the FCA register is vital to consumer protection,” an FCA statement said.

“The Curries masqueraded as an authorised firm to defraud consumers by falsifying the official record and the jury has quite rightly concluded their conduct was criminal. The FCA has invested heavily in the register to strengthen controls and make it easier for people to use, with more information available to consumers.”

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