Foreign exchange fraudster Alex Hope was found guilty on Friday (9 January), having previously admitted a charge of operating a collective investment scheme without authorisation on 23 April 2014.
Judge Taylor found him guilty of one count of fraud at Southwark Crown Court, following a Financial Conduct Authority prosecuting Mr Hope, who ran a scam which claimed to be making large returns for investors from the profits of his forex trading.
He and his co-defendant were charged in April 2013 with a total of ten offences relating to an unauthorised investment scheme they promoted and operated, with the court case starting in June.
Georgina Philippou, acting director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said that Mr Hope took in those who trusted him to invest their money by promising fantastic returns, but those who invested ended up with significant losses and the main beneficiary of the scheme was Mr Hope himself.
“There is a reminder for consumers here that unauthorised investment schemes are often incredibly risky and if the promised investment returns seem too good to be true they most probably are.
“Securing the conviction of Hope demonstrates the FCA’s commitment to achieving our objectives of protecting consumers and enhancing the integrity of the financial system.”
Between March 2011 and April 2012, Mr Hope took over £5m from investors, using over £2m of this for personal expenditure.
He told investors that he would trade their money on the foreign exchange markets and held himself out to be a talented and successful trader who could make investors a return of up to 100 per cent in just a few months, while in reality he lost over £500,000 of the £650,000 held in his trading accounts.
Prior to the trial, Hope’s co-defendant, Raj Von Badlo (also known as Raj Shastri), had pleaded guilty to an offence of recklessly making false representations to investors and a further offence of promoting a collective investment scheme without authorisation at a hearing on 22 July 2014.
Mr Hope and Mr Von Badlo will be sentenced on 16 January and the FCA will instigate confiscation proceedings against both defendants.
peter.walker@ft.com
