An unauthorised stockbroker, William Anthony Radclyffe, of Salisbury, was sentenced on Monday 11 February, at the Central Criminal Court, London, to 15 months imprisonment for offences of dishonesty including theft.
The sentencing follows a prosecution brought against Radclyffe by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Radclyffe pleaded guilty to 15 offences under the Theft Acts, the Financial Services Act 1986 and Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, with a further 34 offences taken into consideration. He was also disqualified from being a company director for five years.
From 1997 to 2004, acting as an unauthorised broker, Radclyffe made false and misleading statements to his clients about both the management and profit made by an illegal collective investment scheme that he was operating. Radclyffe also stole an investment portfolio valued at almost 100,000 and dishonestly failed to return 20,000 he owed to his former partner, who also invested in his scheme. Radclyffe defrauded a number of investors, the majority of whom were friends, and losses attributed to Radclyffe total more than 350,000
“Mr Radclyffe breached the trust of his clients, many of whom were friends, without consideration for how they would suffer by his actions. We hope others considering such dishonest conduct will take notice of the custodial sentence imposed. Our prosecution of this case is indicative of the FSA’s determination to deter wrongdoing of this sort,” says Margaret Cole, director, FSA.
Radclyffe used the proceeds of his criminal activities to fund his day to day expenses, including his children’s school fees, and his own unsuccessful investment strategies.
As Radclyffe was not an authorised broker his clients will not have access to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) or Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). There is little that can be done to recover their losses. Consumers are reminded to only obtain financial advice from those authorised by the FSA to provide such a service.