City watchdog charges five men over ‘all or nothing’ investment fraud
Five men, who allegedly defrauded investors of £1.2m via an “all or nothing” investment scheme, have been charged by the UK’s financial watchdog.
The five men, who are accused of using investors’ money to fund their luxury lifestyles, convinced UK investors to put their cash into high-risk binary options, which have been banned for retail use since 2019.
It is alleged the men used the money to fund their own lifestyles, instead of the binary options advertised.
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) claims that between 2016 and 2020, Cameron Vickers, Raheel Mirza, and Opeyemi Solaja (aka Opeyemi Olaja) used their London based company, Bespoke Markets Group, to defraud investors of £1.2m.
Another man, Reuben Akpojaro, who also worked at Bespoke Markets Group, was also charged with the same offences in May 2022.
Further charges, for perverting the course of justice, were subsequently brought against Raheel Mizra, and a fifth individual, Taheer Sardar, over claims the two men forged a document relating to the case.
Binary options are a form of fixed odds betting, that let investors bet on the outcome of a single event, through an all or nothing deal.
If the event happens, and the investor wins, they’ll see a return, but if they lose, they’ll lose all the money they invested in the bet.
The charges come as the FCA pushes forwards with efforts to clamp down on harmful conduct, in a shift that has seen the watchdog place twice as many restrictions on companies compared to last year.