Collateral damage: Currie brothers trial kicks off
The criminal trial of former Collateral directors Andrew Currie and Peter Currie started today, more than a year after proceedings were commenced by the City watchdog.
The two brothers, who headed up the collapsed peer-to-peer lending platform, each face one charge of fraud by false representation, one charge of fraud by abuse of position and one charge of converting criminal property.
It is alleged that the Curries falsely told investors that Collateral was authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The Curries “lied to investors who invested through the company by telling them Collateral was authorised and regulated in order to persuade them to invest, and in order for the Curries to make money,” Stuart Biggs, counsel for the City watchdog, told jurors at the start of the trial at Southwark Crown Court, according to a report in Law360.
The Curries have pled not guilty.
The brothers plan to say that they were advised they did not need the authorisation, but Biggs noted that it was a requirement as a “matter of law”, according to the Law360 report.
Collateral collapsed into administration in February 2018, with questions already circling about its regulatory status.
As Peer2Peer Finance News reported that month, the three limited companies listed on the Financial Services Register that had traded under the name of Collateral had not had regulatory permission to operate as a consumer credit business for at least 11 months prior and had all been dissolved.
Furthermore, Collateral (UK) Limited, which was cited on the platform’s regular loan updates to investors, could not be found on the Financial Services Register at all.
The FCA has also alleged that the brothers dishonestly abused their positions by transferring funds to a separate company. They are also believed to have transferred further sums that they knew or suspected were the proceeds of crime into the bank accounts of Andrew Currie.
Read more: Collateral damage: A timeline of the administration
When contacted by Peer2Peer Finance News when the allegation surfaced last year, Andrew Currie declined to comment on the allegations.
Collateral previously offered pawnbroking-style loans against items such as jewellery and cars but shifted towards land and property in 2017.
Around 1,000 investors had put more than £15m through Collateral before it fell into administration, the FCA claims.