The Financial Conduct Authority has urged 20 remaining victims of an illegal investment scheme to come forward after Southwark Crown Court ordered compensation be paid.

The FCA secured asset confiscations orders against 6 individuals, the proceeds of which it has ordered be paid as compensation to the victims of the illegal investment scheme.

The 6 were previously convicted in 2018 and sentenced to over 28 years following the FCA’s largest fraud prosecution. 

The regulator has been carrying out inquiries to identify all victims of the illegal investment scheme. It has been in contact with all of them apart from an estimated 20 victims unable to be traced so far.

It has called for these remaining victims to come forward before 16 July.

Investors bought shares in Pearl Island International LLC, Paragon Private Wealth LLC, Berkeley Brookes LLC, and/or Atlantic Equity LLC.

The shares in the illegal scheme were sold through Morgan Forbes (UK) Ltd, Acropolis SGPS, Amber Crest Investments, Paragon Private Wealth, Ocean Peak International, First Capital Wealth Limited, Bishops of Mayfair Ltd, Walberg Dillion Reid Ltd, and Sterling Capital Corporation Ltd.

Between July 2010 and April 2014, members of the public were cold-called and subjected to high pressure sales tactics to persuade them to buy shares in a company that owned land on the island of Madeira.

The investors were told that the value of the shares would increase substantially when permission to build 20 villas was granted.

Investors were promised guaranteed returns of between 125% and 228%.

None were ever paid.

Southwark Crown Court made confiscation orders against Michael Nascimento in the sum of £976, 508.83; Charanjit Sandhu in the sum of £391,680.17; Stuart Rea in the sum of £46,183.74; Ryan Parker in the sum of £345,775.52; Jeannine Lewis in the sum of £105,538.00 and Hugh Edwards in the nominal sum of £1 (given he has no available assets to meet any order).

The court also imposed default prison sentences under the terms of the confiscation orders for each of the individuals, which means that they would each be liable to serve a term of imprisonment in the event that they do not satisfy the orders.