SFO widens investigation into £236m minibond scandal

A number of arrests have now been made by the Serious Fraud Office pertaining to the London Capital & Finance collapse, while HM Treasury has ordered an independent inquiry into the regulator’s handling of the affair – yet investors are still £236 million out of pocket. Bambos Tsiattalou discusses legal aspects of the case.

Bambos Tsiattalou is the founding partner of Stokoe Partnership Solicitors (www.stokoepartnership.com), a criminal litigation practice which specialises in defending very serious and corporate crime. Contact him on btsiattalou@stokoepartnership.com.

In March 2019, the Serious Fraud Office made four arrests in connection with the collapse of the high-risk lender London Capital & Finance. At that stage it was known that its sales agent Surge Financial had been paid 25 per cent commission on the funds raised for LCF, with administrators Smith & Williamson putting the total of that commission at approximately £60 million.