The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has received £265,523.96 in a confiscation order against Andrew Currie, the operator of peer-to-peer lending platform Collateral LTd.
Currie was convicted of fraud in 2023 and sentenced to 2 years and 6 months’ imprisonment for fleecing investors in the failed peer-to-peer lender. If the penalty is not paid, Currie’s prison sentence could be extended.
According to the FCA, Currie used investor funds for personal purchases, including property in Spain.
The aforementioned sum collected was said to be all the assets left that could be collected.
Steve Smart, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said the decision is a warning to fraudsters that they will ensure they don’t benefit from criminal activity.
If Mr Currie does not pay the confiscation order within 3 months, he faces a default prison sentence of up to 3 years.
Currie presented Collateral as a peer-to-peer lender while claiming it was authorised and regulated by the FCA. It was not. Investors were duped into lending an estimated amount of £17.9m in customer loans. When the firm failed, approximately £11 million could not be recovered.