A fraudster who conned consumers out of more than half a million pounds has been forced to pay compensation to his victims.
In a case brought by the Financial Conduct Authority, Southwark Crown Court made a confiscation order against Manraj Singh Virdee following his earlier conviction and suspended prison sentence for running an unauthorised and "spectacularly unsuccessful" investment scheme.
Between October 2015 and November 2017 Virdee targeted his wider family and associates with an unauthorised deposit taking scheme.
He also entered into an agreement with one investor to manage £192,500 in spread betting trading, in which only £10,000 was used as promised.
As the sole director of Dynamic UK Trades Ltd, in total Virdee received more than £600,000 in funds, with some investors "guaranteed" returns of up to 100 per cent based on his "claimed success as a currency trader".
Only £457,119 of these deposits was actually traded by Virdee and almost all was reportedly lost or used to fund his lifestyle, the FCA stated.
The court made a confiscation order of £171,913 which will be used to compensate the 24 victims of his crimes who lost in the region of £650,000 in total.
If Virdee doesn’t pay the confiscation order on time, he is liable to be sentenced to a further two years in prison.
Mark Steward, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: “This confiscation will go some way to compensating Mr Virdee’s victims whom he misled and defrauded.
“The FCA reminds investors to beware of anyone who is not authorised to carry out the activities they are offering.”
imogen.tew@ft.com
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