On June 16, 2016, following investigation by the FCA, five persons appeared in a UK court charged with conspiracy to defraud, together with offences under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and the Fraud Act 2006. Two of the five accused have also been charged with perverting the course of justice and one has been charged with money laundering offenses contrary to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. The offenses relate to the promotion and sale of shares in Atlantic Equity LLC (formerly known as Berkley Brookes LLC), between July 2013 and March 2014. This was achieved through a succession of four alleged "boiler room" companies, all of which traded from the Docklands area of London. The FCA alleges that the defendants promoted investment schemes that offered investors interests in a supposed commercial development in Madeira in which a total of 175 investors may have potentially lost approximately £2.75 million.
Following the hearing, a trial has been set for September 4, 2017.
The FCA press release is available at: http://www.fca.org.uk/news/fca-charge-five-in-alleged-investment-fraud.
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