On September 17, 2018, the final defendant in an investment fraud case was sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment following "Operation Tidworth," the U.K. FCA's largest and one of its most complex fraud investigations to date. Five other defendants received prison sentences on September 4, 2018 for their roles in share fraud carried out through a series of boiler room companies which led to the loss of more than £2.8 million of investors' money. Many of the investors were elderly or vulnerable and lost life-changing sums, which in some cases amounted to their life savings. The six defendants in the fraud have together been sentenced to a total of 28.5 years' imprisonment. The final defendant was considered to be the instigator and main beneficiary of the fraud.
The final defendant must serve a total of 13 years in prison, having received an additional sentence of 2 years' imprisonment in a separate prosecution by the Crown Prosecution Service and the City of London Police.
The FCA press release is available at: https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/michael-nascimento-sentenced-11-years-imprisonment-fca-prosecution-investment-fraud-operation-tidworth and details of the sentences handed down on September 4, 2018 are available at: https://finreg.shearman.com/five-individuals-imprisoned-for-pound28m-uk-inves.
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