FSCS pays £2.3m to victims of jailed adviser

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FSCS pays £2.3m to victims of jailed adviser

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme has paid out £2.3m to victims of an adviser jailed for his part in a £13m Ponzi scheme, with more claims being processed. 

The industry-funded lifeboat body has so far paid 40 successful claims against Aberdeen-based Midas Financial Solutions, after finding the firm owed a "civil liability" to victims of an illegal investment scheme run by its principal, Alistair Greig.

The FSCS expects to have paid all valid claims by the end of July, but has called on any investors in the Ponzi scheme who believe they are due compensation, and have not yet been contacted by the organisation, to make a claim via its website. 

Earlier this year Greig, who owned and ran Midas Financial Solutions in Scotland, was sentenced to 14 years in jail after he was found guilty of a large scale investment fraud, in the form of a £13m Ponzi scheme. 

The advice boss raided investors’ pension pots and life savings to fund his own personal investments and his actions saw hundreds of claims passed to the FSCS. 

Mr Greig used new investors' funds to pay existing investors, by persuading them to put their cash in what he said were guaranteed high-interest accounts.

Midas pitched the investments as offering attractive returns on "favourable terms", made possible by the owner's supposed relationship with a high-street bank. 

However, the high-interest accounts had never existed and instead investors’ money was placed into the Ponzi scheme, with almost £6m funnelled into Mr Grieg’s own bank accounts to fund a lavish lifestyle. 

In a statement on its website the FSCS said: "Some customers may have been told that they would receive their compensation by the end of April. Unfortunately, we were unable to complete payments by this date.

"We appreciate the patience of all customers with these claims and will compensate eligible customers as quickly as possible."

rachel.mortimer@ft.com 

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