The FCA has charged Mansfield-based John Burford with carrying on an unauthorised business and dishonestly misleading investors.

Mr Burford is an 85-year-old former NASA physicist and was involved in a Washington-based project to land men on Mars.

He was the sole director of Financial Trading Strategies Limited (FTS) and is suspected of generating more than £1m from investors.

Between 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2023, Mr Burford is alleged to have accepted money from more than 100 investors, and allegedly advised and managed investments on their behalf without authorisation.

Through the FTS website, he is accused of promoting paid subscription services involving the provision of daily trade alerts which gave advice on trading opportunities as well as investments in 3 'Tramline' funds.

Investors were encouraged to spend £995 a year to join Mr Burford’s VIP Traders Club, or £595 to receive alerts when he spotted a stock market opportunity.

The FCA alleges that Mr Burford repeatedly misrepresented the value of the funds and the amount of money he had lost while trading.

Steve Smart, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: “Fighting financial crime is central to our new strategy and we will take action against criminal behaviour which harms consumers and damages the integrity of our markets. We allege that Mr Burford sought to defraud his clients for personal gain.”

Mr Burford will appear before Westminster Magistrates' Court on 23 May.

He is being prosecuted for breaches of sections 19 and 23(1) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) namely by allegedly accepting deposits and advising on and managing investments while not being authorised. Carrying out unauthorised business is an offence punishable by a fine and/or up to 2 years' imprisonment.

The FCA is also prosecuting Mr Burford for a breach of section 993(1) of the Companies Act 2006 namely by carrying on the business of FTS for a fraudulent purpose and misleading investors as to the manner in which their money would be used. Fraudulent trading under section 993 of the Companies Act 2006 is an offence punishable by a fine and/or up to 10 years' imprisonment.