Following a summary judgment application brought by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the High Court today found that John Anderson, Kenneth Peacock and Kautilya Nandan Pruthi (the defendants) were in breach of section 19 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 by unlawfully accepting deposits from UK consumers.
The judgment relates to the individual’s activities under their trading styles of: Business Consulting International, John Anderson Consulting and Kenneth Peacock Consulting.
The summary judgment hearing took place before Mr Justice Lewison on 18 March. The Court has determined that the defendants had no real prospect of successfully defending the claim that they had been carrying out this unauthorised activity contrary to the law. Therefore, it will not be necessary for the scheduled full three week trial to take place.
On 21 May 2009 the City of London Police arrested three people on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud, money laundering and fraud by misrepresentation. The police investigation into Mayfair-based consultancy Business Consulting International continues. A fourth man was arrested on suspicion of money laundering in July 2009.
Margaret Cole, director of enforcement and financial crime at the FSA, said:
"We are pleased to have obtained this judgment and that the Court has agreed with the FSA that these individuals were involved in unlawful deposit taking. They were not authorised by the FSA but were clearly involved in activities which meant they should have been.
"This case emphasises the importance of taking care to ensure that any firm or individual consumers deal with are authorised or approved by the FSA. Authorisation offers consumers valuable protection and access to complaints and compensation arrangements should anything go wrong."
A further hearing will take place to establish the sum owed to consumers and is likely to take place in June.