The FCA has won a Confiscation Order of £5,963,376 against convicted investment scammer Guy Flintham.

The 47-year-old fake trader, now in jail, lived an “extravagant lifestyle” on the proceeds of a Ponzi scheme which cheated 240 investors out of £19m.

He spent much of his investors’ money on cars, personalised number plates, jewellery and designer goods. 

The Blackburn-based crook was jailed in May last year for six years and is currently serving a six-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to fraud by false representation.

The Court determined that Mr Flintham’s criminal benefit was £23.9m with the Confiscation Order amount being owed of £5,963,376.15, based on the Court’s findings on his available assets. The confiscated funds will be distributed to the victims of his crimes if recovered. 

The Court has also imposed a further default prison sentence of two years on Mr Flintham. If he does not satisfy the Confiscation Order within three months, he will serve this further term in addition to the six years he is already serving. 

Mr Flintham made several fraudulent claims to investors, including about how the scheme was operated and the profits they were making. He falsified documents to support his claims.

Steve Smart, joint executive director of enforcement & market oversight at the FCA, said: "Mr Flintham deliberately lied and misled people, causing them serious harm. This order sends a signal to anyone who engages in fraud - your ill-gotten gains are not safe even when you’re behind bars.”

The FCA is contacting the identified victims of Mr Flintham’s fraud to provide further information.  

At the hearing at Southwark Crown Court in May 2024 the judge said Mr Flintham had "irrevocably damaged" people's lives.

Between January 2016 and November 2021, Mr Flintham defrauded more than 240 investors by making false representations to persuade them to invest approximately £19m in an investment scheme operated by him. 

He claimed he was a successful trader but in reality was not. He lied about how the scheme was operated and the profits that he was making for his investors. He sent clients falsified trading statements which showed healthy returns.

Any money that was paid to them as returns was actually money received from other investors - or their own investment paid back to them. The fraud was "little more than a Ponzi scheme", the FCA said.  

Only £1.14m of investors' money was ever placed into trading accounts by Mr Flintham, with a further £10m paid back to investors as ‘profits’ or withdrawals of capital. Mr Flintham meanwhile spent substantial sums on an extravagant lifestyle, including more than £1m on vehicles, personalised number plates, jewellery and designer goods.