FCA bans two advisers over £35m Sipp-linked property scheme

A Sipp scheme was used by two Surrey-based investments advisers who have have been fined a total of £885,000 and been banned by the FCA from holding any position at a financial firm. Mark Bentley-Leek and Mustafa Dervish, directors of Bentley-Leek Financial Management, were found by the regulator to have lacked integrity and to have misled clients as investments they recommended were hit by the economic downturn. The FCA has also cancelled the permissions of their firm Bentley-Leek Financial Management, which is now in liquidation. The address given for the firm is in London.Between 5 March 2004 and 23 November 2010 Mr Bentley-Leek and Mr Dervish advised over 300 customers to invest over £35m in a series of property developments in the UK and abroad. According to the regulatory notices a Sipp was used to funnel some of the investments.Despite the riskiness of the investments they were selling, the pair told some of their clients that their money and a 6-18 per cent return on the investment was guaranteed. Some investors were told that returns of up to 50 per cent could be expected.Mr Bentley-Leek and Mr Dervish failed to adequately inform investors that they were directors and owners of some of the property development companies they were advising clients to invest in, which created a conflict of interest.According to the FCA notice for Mr Bentley-Leek: "The investments were made through various mediums including but not limited to third party loans via a Sipp to a limited company, or as a purchase of unlisted shares in a SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle), either directly by or via BLPL (Bentley-Leek Properties Limited).The Sipp operator has not been named in the regulatory notices but the FCA has said the investments have had to be written off as virtually worthless.The FCA notice for Mr Bentley-Leek says: "With regard to client funds which were invested through a Sipp, the Sipp operator has assumed a nominal value of £1 for the investments made through BLPL and each of the SPVs." It's not been revealed what the final cost is to the Sipp operator.{desktop}{/desktop}{mobile}{/mobile}The FCA said that by June 2009 both men were aware that the property investment companies were in difficulty, with the market falling and bank lending seizing up. Despite that they continued to advise clients to invest. Within 17 months, however, Bentley-Leek Financial Management was in administration and had entered insolvency by November 2011.The FCA added that: "Despite the promise of guaranteed returns, most of those who invested during this period are likely to suffer substantial losses. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) is currently considering whether those affected may be entitled to some compensation."Tracey McDermott, director of enforcement and financial crime said: "Many consumers committed their life savings or their pensions to these property investments as they trusted Mr Bentley-Leek and Mr Dervish's advice. The least consumers should expect from those they turn to for investment advice is honesty and integrity. Bentley-Leek and Dervish fell far short of our expectations, they failed their customers and further tarnished the name of the financial services industry."We are determined to stamp out such behaviour and these sanctions should send a clear message to others who might be tempted to put their own interests ahead of those of their clients."Mr Bentley-Leek and Mr Dervish have been fined £525,000 and £360,000 respectively, substantial fines for individuals which reflect the seriousness of the breaches and the need to deter others. The fines would have been £750,000 and £450,000 respectively had the men not settled at an early stage of the FCA's investigation.

FCA bans two advisers over £35m Sipp-linked property scheme

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