The FCA has banned former Quilter appointed rep David Nicholas King indefinitely after he was convicted of a number of theft offences.

Mr King, currently in prison, stole approximately £600,000 from his late grandmother’s estate due to be split among family members and used the money to spend on expensive cars, shooting days and holidays, including a trip to the Ryder Cup in the US.

Mr King, who ran his own firm called DNK Wealth Management, pleaded in October 2019 to three offences of theft, one count of fraud and one count of acquiring criminal property.

He was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court in November 2019 to six years and four months’ in prison.

In its Final Notice on the disciplinary aspect of the case, the FCA this week said Mr King was, “not a fit and proper person” to carry out regulated activity. The regulator said his convictions demonstrated a “serious lack of honesty and integrity.”

Mr King carried out a customer function for Quilter Financial Limited between 2010 and 2012 and also worked as an appointed rep for Openwork Limited at various periods between 2010 and 2016. He was also an appointed rep at other authorised firms including Caerus Wealth.

The FCA said that Mr King committed fraud on family members by taking their share of his grandparents’ estate, which they had inherited, and telling them he would invest it. Instead he spent much of the money on himself. The estate consisted of cash and assets. 

The amount stolen from the beneficiaries totalled approximately £573,000. Mr King also committed fraud against a friend when he personally guaranteed bridging finance on a property purchase, intending to make a gain of £35,000 for himself.

The sentencing judge stated that Mr King “connived and contrived” to hide his “dishonesty”.

Mr King was made bankrupt in October 2019 and discharged in October 2020 but due to his offending the Insolvency Service imposed additional bankruptcy restrictions for 12 years.

In his defence to the FCA Mr King, who has decided not to appeal the ban, said that he self-reported the offences to South Yorkshire police and made full admissions at the first opportunity in a police interview. He also pleaded guilty to the offences and has repaid £305,000 to his victims.

The FCA acknowledged that Mr King had been “open, honest and transparent” since the offences became known. Mr King told the regulator he had been having financial problems at the time of the offences and has apologised to his family.