Nearly £2.65m will be returned to investors after a ruling in Southwark Crown Court today.
Foreign exchange fraudster Alex Hope was found guilty last year after a Financial Conduct Authority prosecution.
He ran a fraud which claimed to be making large returns for investors from the profits of his Forex trading.
Today (12 February) Judge Deborah Taylor also ruled that Hope should pay £166,696 after approving a confiscation order.
A statement from the FCA said this must be paid in full within three months or he will face a further sentence of 20 months’ imprisonment, consecutive with the seven-year sentence imposed upon him in January 2015.
The order follows a confiscation order made against Raj Von Badlo, Hope’s co-defendant, who was ordered to pay £99,819 at a hearing in December after pleading guilty.
Judge Taylor directed that all sums confiscated from Hope and Von Badlo be paid by way of compensation to the investors who were victims of their crimes.
In total, investors should therefore expect to receive more than £2.9m, which equates to approximately 55 per cent of the capital sums that are owed to them.
Mark Steward, the FCA’s director of enforcement and market oversight, said: “This is the largest sum returned to victims of crime following an FSA/FCA prosecution and is the result of quick action in the first instance to restrain the proceeds of Hope’s offending.
“The FCA will continue to work hard to ensure wrongdoers are held to account not only for their wrongdoing but also for its consequences, especially to victims, to the fullest extent possible.”
Von Badlo must pay his sum in full within three months or face a further sentence of 15 months’ imprisonment, consecutive to the two year sentence he received in January last year.
In addition, he was made the subject of an order that prevents him leaving the UK until his confiscation order is satisfied in full.
