Alex Hope, who set himself up as a foreign exchange trader, has been jailed for seven years for defrauding investors of 5.5 million pounds ($7.5 million), of which he spent nearly half on a globe-trotting, champagne
Alex Hope, who set himself up as a foreign exchange trader, has been jailed for seven years for defrauding investors of 5.5 million pounds ($7.5 million), of which he spent nearly half on a globe-trotting, champagne
lifestyle, Britain's Financial Conduct Authority said on Friday.
Hope was found guilty of fraud by Southwark Crown Court in central London earlier this month and was sentenced on Friday. The sentence equals the longest prison term following a prosecution by the UK markets regulator.
The watchdog said Hope had spent more than a million pounds in a casino, over 200,000 pounds on designer watches and shoes, 60,000 pounds on foreign travel, and over 600,000 pounds in bars and nightclubs in London, Miami and New York.
The UK media have reported that Hope spent more than 200,000 pounds on Britain's most expensive round of drinks at a Liverpool nightclub.
He was also sentenced to 16 months in prison for operating an investment scheme without authorisation, a charge he admitted to. This sentence will run concurrently with the other term.
"Alex Hope presented himself as a trader with a flair for trading on the foreign exchange markets when in reality he spent a good deal of his investors' money on himself," Georgina Philippou, acting FCA director of enforcement, said.
More than 100 investors gave Hope a total of 5.5 million pounds before the investment scheme was shut by the FCA in April 2012. Only 12% of the money was ever traded and when Hope did trade, almost all of the money was lost, the FCA said.
About half the money was identified and frozen, and consideration of confiscation and other financial orders will take place at a later date.
Hope's co-defendant, Raj Von Badlo, who had earlier pleaded guilty, was sent to prison for two years for recklessly making false representations to investors and promoting a collective investment scheme without authorisation.
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