A jury at Southwark Crown Court has heard evidence from an investor in the failed platform Collateral (UK) Limited and from an FCA investigator.
Collateral (UK) Limited was a finance company which facilitated investments crowdfunded by members of the public. The firm and two related companies entered administration in April 2018.
The two defendants, Andrew Currie, 57, and Peter Currie, 59, both deny two charges under the Fraud Act 2006 and one charge under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 in this criminal prosecution brought by the Financial Conduct Authority.
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Contemporaneous reporting by Alex Varley-Winter who tweets @avwinter
Today witness Stephen Robinson, a former motor trader, testified that he and his wife haven’t “seen a penny since about 2018” of upwards of about £60,000 in investments that they had been able to administer for themselves on Collateral’s website.
Mr Robinson also testified that he was not able to view data on his investments after the Collateral website stopped running in 2018. Collateral is currently in liquidation, in the hands of insolvency specialists BDO.
Robinson said that he originally learned about Collateral’s investment platform on online forums for ‘retail’ (non-professional) investors, and that the statement that it was authorised and interim-regulated by the FCA had informed his decision to invest.
To support this the FCA exhibited ‘screenshots’ – digital photographs – that Mr Robinson said he had made when he was considering whether to part with his money.
He told the court that he had started off by making a small investment on the platform and then put more money in when his initial investments earned interest.
More investors will give evidence tomorrow for the prosecution side.
FCA investigator Barry Ryan testified today on material that he compiled to help build the prosecution case since 2018. His key source was “ultimately BDO, and before that Collateral’s server.“
Barry Ryan’s evidence included a condensed timeline of the case compiled by the prosecution, including the fact that on 25th November 2015 Peter Currie wrote to a contact of his called Metin Tilki, who was liaising with potential investors: “Collateral is not regulated by the FCA and is not authorised to offer advice to the general public concerning any regulated or unregulated investment nor is it authorised for consumer lending.”
However, on December 11, 2015, Mr Tilki highlighted that a high net worth investor might advance £30,000, with a potential investment to follow of £300-400,000, subject to a number of questions. He said “strike while the iron is hot“.
Peter Currie’s misrepresentation on the FCA’s website followed this correspondence, a chronology that leads prosecutors to argue that a sense of urgency and the desire to bring in such a large investment would create a motive for the lie that Collateral (UK) was regulated.
The trial continues.
Case details:
Court 12 Southwark Crown Court
Before His Honour Judge Griffith
20th April 2023 10.30am
Case number: T20220056
CURRIE Andrew
CURRIE Peter
The Financial Conduct Authority are represented by barrister Stuart Biggs, assisted by Thomas Coke-Smyth.
Peter Currie is represented by barrister Colin Aylott KC, assisted by Ashley Hendron.
Andrew Currie is represented by barrister Henry Grunwald OBE KC, assisted by Oliver Renton.
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