The FCA has secured an order of £4m against an unauthorised mortgage broker and its associates who exploited vulnerable consumers. London Property Investments (U.K) Limited (LPI) arranged mortgages while NPI Holdings Limited (NPI) bought properties and rented them back to the sellers, both without FCA authorisation. Daniel Stevens, the director of LPI and NPI, and his father, Tony Stevens, were also found liable. In his judgment, Mr Justice Fancourt described these breaches as ‘serious contraventions, conducted over an extended period, involving high levels of culpability including deception of the consumers and the lenders, and which took advantage of the consumers’ vulnerability’. The 4 defendants are ordered to pay around £4 million to the FCA. This is an important next step in the case. The FCA will need to recover funds before any compensation can be paid to affected individuals. LPI is required to remove restrictions registered against the titles of 4 properties. These restrictions were used to force individuals to pay exorbitant fees to LPI. If these fees were not paid, then the individual could not sell or re-mortgage their property. In some cases, this trapped individuals into high-interest bridging loans. Steve Smart, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: ‘These sham brokers preyed on vulnerable people who were struggling financially and trapped them with exorbitant fees. ‘The defendants used a smokescreen of deception which cost consumers and lenders dearly. This was a complex case, but the ruling shows that these were serious breaches of our rules. It is only right that we can now pursue LPI, NPI, Daniel and Tony Stevens to compensate for the losses they caused the victims.’ Read the judgmentLink is external . In his judgment, Mr Justice Fancourt found that LPI had contravened the general prohibition in section 19 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) in relation to 26 further individuals identified by the FCA, and that Tony Stevens and Daniel Stevens were both knowingly concerned in these contraventions. He ordered the defendants to pay for losses caused to these and 45 other individuals. In July 2020, the FCA obtained an interim injunction and a freezing order to stop these activities and freeze residential properties and other assets owned by Tony and Daniel Stevens and the 2 companies. Read the FCA’s press release in relation to the commencement of proceedings dated 13 July 2020. In November 2022 the FCA obtained a judgment against LPI, NPI, Daniel Stevens and Tony Stevens in relation to 45 individuals; this judgment takes the total number to 71. Read the FCA’s press release in relation to the judgment obtained by the FCA in November 2022. The FCA issued proceedings in the High Court against London Property Investments (U.K) Limited, NPI Holdings Limited, Daniel Stevens and Anthony Kafetzis (also known as Anthony Stephens, Tony Stevens, Tony Stephens, George Stasis, Anthonio Georgiou and Andreas Georgiou). The FCA has an overarching strategic objective of ensuring the relevant markets function well. To support this, it has 3 operational objectives: to secure an appropriate degree of protection for consumers; to protect and enhance the integrity of the UK financial system; and to promote effective competition in the interests of consumers. The breaches are of section 19 of FSMA (carrying on regulated activities in the UK without FCA authorisation or exemption) and section 21 of FSMA (communicating financial promotions without the required authorisation or approval). Background
