A former director has been charged with fraud by abuse of position, in connection with his pensions business Noisnep.
Darren Say was charged by Essex Police on 20 January. According to the police, he appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on 21 January and is next due to appear at Chelmsford Crown Court during the week beginning 30 May.
A spokesperson for Essex police said in a statement: “The charge relates to allegations that he committed fraud while occupying a position in which he was expected to safeguard, or not to act against, the financial interests of Noisnep Sipp members, between January 1, 2009 and January 20, 2016.”
The statement added that no pleas have been entered to date.
Mr Say’s LinkedIn profile lists him as founder and owner of Noisnep. On the FCA register he is listed as the contact person for the firm. The Noisnep website is no longer available online.
Also on the regulator’s register, Mr Say is named as director of another firm, Wealth Connection, from January 2011 until April 2013. According to Mr Say’s LinkedIn profile this is “a specialist adviser to pension trustees and employers offering advice on the savings gap shortfall”.
He is registered inactive on the FCA register, but was previously approved to perform certain tasks in a regulated firm.
Noisnep is listed on the FCA register with interim permissions from the transition from the Office of Fair Trading to the FCA, when it took over consumer credit in 2014. It has not been fully authorised.
Wealth Connection is listed on the register, however it status is ‘no longer authorised’. The FCA register states that it can no longer provide regulated products and services, but was previously authorised by the PRA and/or FCA in the past.
ruth.gillbe@ft.com
