Acquittal in prosecution by FCA of boiler room fraud

Following a retrial at Southwark Crown Court, a defendant investigated for 6 years by the FCA has been acquitted by a jury.

The case concerned a series of cloned companies in whose name £1.5m had been extracted from investors between 2018 and 2020 when no investment products (cryptocurrency, property bonds and FX) actually existed. Part of the fraud involved the manipulation of the FCA register. Consumers came to invest following cold calls made from offices in central London.  NH had worked in these offices between the ages of 19 and 20, having been employed by two older men, PM and RB.

Following the arrest of PM in March 2020 and the examination of his devices, NH was arrested on suspicion of committing a regulatory offence contrary to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. In 2023, NH was charged together with PM and RB with conspiracy to commit fraud and conspiracy to breach the General Prohibition contrary to section 23 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Following a six-week trial in 2024, a jury was unable to reach a verdict. Following a three-week retrial in September 2025, a jury has acquitted NH.

In FCA v. NH, Kate O’Raghallaigh and Graeme Hall were instructed by Kiran Mehta, consultant at Lartey’s Solicitors.