Christian Littlewood, a senior investment banker and former Financial Services Authority (FSA) Approved Person, his wife Angie Littlewood (also known as Siew Yoon Lew and Angie Lew) and a family friend, Helmy Omar Sa’aid, have today been sentenced for insider dealing contrary to section 52 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993.
Christian Littlewood was sentenced to three years and four months in custody; Angie Littlewood was sentenced to twelve months in custody suspended for two years; and Helmy Omar Sa’aid was sentenced to two years in custody.
Sa’aid was also ordered to pay £640,000 in confiscation. Confiscation orders in relation to Christian and Angie Littlewood will be dealt with at a later date.
The trio pleaded guilty to eight counts of insider dealing related to trading in a number of different London Stock Exchange and AIM listed shares between 2000 and 2008.
In passing sentence His Honour, Judge Leonard QC, noted that sentences need to deter others:
"Those rogue traders that let down the honest, discreet majority must be made to pay."
Margaret Cole, managing director of enforcement and financial crime, said:
“This was a case of systematic abuse by an approved person of their privileged position in the market - we are determined to stamp out such abuse. Our tough, coordinated approach to insider dealing and our commitment to taking on difficult criminal prosecutions has really begun to pay off; the guilty pleas and sentencing of the Littlewoods and Sa’aid shows that we can, and will, uncover insider dealing, even across borders, and that the people who commit these market offences will not go unpunished."
Background
- The FSA has so far secured a number of sentences of imprisonment (two suspended) in relation to insider dealing: Christopher McQuoid and James William Melbourne in March 2009; Matthew and Neel Uberoi in November 2009, Malcolm Calvert on 11 March 2010, Anjam Ahmad on 22 June 2010 andNeil Rollins on 21 January 2011. Details of each case are available on the FSA website.
- These are the longest sentences imposed to date – the previous longest sentence was of 27 months custody imposed on Neil Rollins.
- The FSA is currently prosecuting 12 other individuals for insider dealing:
- The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, gives the FSA powers to investigate and prosecute insider dealing, defined by The Criminal Justice Act 1993.
- The Supreme Court has recently confirmed that the FSA has the power to bring proceedings for money laundering offences.
- Individuals with information about market abuse can call the FSA’s market abuse hotline on 020 7066 4900.
- The FSA regulates the financial services industry and has four objectives under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000: maintaining market confidence; securing the appropriate degree of protection for consumers; fighting financial crime; and contributing to the protection and enhancement of the stability of the UK financial system.