FCA secures £170,000 confiscation order against convicted fraudster

A confiscation order of £171,913.60 was made against Manraj Singh Virdee in Southwark Crown Court on 16 December 2019.

This follows an FCA prosecution in which Virdee was sentenced to a two year prison sentence suspended for two years for defrauding investors of over £600,000.

The conviction related to misleading consumers, fraud and the illegal operation of an unauthorised investment scheme worth over half a million pounds.

The Court found that Virdee had derived a benefit of £666,730.58 from his criminal conduct, but that the total realisable assets for confiscation were £171.913.60. Virdee lost the rest of the victims’ monies through unsuccessful FX trading and maintaining his lifestyle.

The monies will be used to compensate the 24 victims of his crimes who lost in the region of £650,000 in total.

If Virdee doesn’t pay the confiscation order on time, he is liable to be sentenced to a further two years in prison.

Mark Steward, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: "This confiscation will go some way to compensating Mr Virdee’s victims whom he misled and defrauded. The FCA reminds investors to beware of anyone who is not authorised to carry out the activities they are offering."