The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined two directors of a Surrey-based IFA £885,000 and banned them from holding any position at a financial firm for misleading investors to invest in overseas property schemes that they were also in charge of.
Mark Bentley-Leek and Mustafa Dervish, who were both directors of Bentley Leek Financial Management (BLFM), were fined £525,000 and £360,000 respectively, reflecting the "seriousness of the breaches and the need to deter others", the FCA said. The pair were found by the regulator to have lacked integrity by failing to inform their clients of their personal interests in the the overseas property schemes they were advising on. They were also found to have continued to advise on the schemes after clients had already lost money from their investments, which had been impacted by the econom...
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