The Financial Conduct Authority has charged Alex Hope of London and Raj Von Badlo of Buckinghamshire with a total of ten offences relating to an unauthorised investment scheme they promoted and operated.
The scheme purported to carry out Forex trading for the benefit of investors and is believed to have taken over £5m from investors.
The charges follow searches of addresses occupied by the two men that were conducted by the Financial Services Authority with the assistance of the City of London police in April and May 2012. Both men were arrested at the time of, or shortly after, the searches being conducted.
Both men have been bailed to attend City of London Magistrates Court. There are no more details available at present.
This is the first time since the FCA’s inception on 1 April, that it has used this power. Last week the FCA issued warnings against three further unauthorised firms in a sextet of alerts on firms that are not authorised but which may appear so to consumers.
This follows the issuance of 11 such warnings in the previous week as the FCA continued to focus on unauthorised and clone firms, after it had earlier suggested that many such notices would appear on it’s website following the bifurcation of the FSA.
