The brothers behind a British peer-to-peer investment platform have been sentenced to a total of eight years in prison for fraud and money laundering.
Before its collapse into administration in February 2018, Collateral promoted P2P investments on a website that falsely claimed to be authorized and regulated by the FCA.
In December 2015, Peter Currie swapped the details of Regal Pawnbrokers, a company he had agreed to sell, for those of Collateral on the FCA’s public Register. This misrepresentation allowed the company to advertise itself as FCA-authorized for 18 months, encouraging investments in loans on its platform.
In 2018, after discovering the fraudulent Register change, the FCA ordered Collateral to cease unauthorized operations. Despite this, the company continued to accept investments, and Peter and his brother Andrew Currie withdrew approximately £750,000 from client accounts.
Last month, both brothers were convicted. Peter Currie received a sentence of five and a half years in prison, while Andrew was sentenced to two and a half years.
During sentencing, His Honour Judge Griffith noted that “Collateral was built on foundations of sand and dishonesty.” Steve Smart, joint executive director for enforcement and oversight at the FCA, commented, “Peter Currie fraudulently amended the Register to entice investors in, and together with Andrew, stole client money once they knew the game was up.”