The 24HR Trading Academy Ltd, a social media trading platform run by its sole director Mohammed Fuaath Haja Maideen Maricar was been found guilty of giving unlawful currencies and commodities trading advice without authorization via WhatsApp and other messengers. The UK’s High Court gave a verdict in favour of the Financial Conduct Authority.
FCA had filed a court case against UK’s 24HR Trading accusing it of sending risky, misleading statements and engagement in false financial promotions
Maideen Maricar promised his costumers that they would make high profits if they trade as per the instructions sent to them.
Unfortunately, the investment advice exposed their clients to huge losses because the adviser, Mr. Maricar, had not met the Financial Conduct Authority’s assessment tests nor their customers exposed to Financial Service Compensation Scheme when circumstances go wrong.
Mr. Maricar was ordered to compensate the clients’ losses, whose liability amounted to £530k. The FCA came up with a recompensation plan on distributing the funds to all the affected clients.
FCA Froze Maricar’s Assets
FCA went ahead to suspend all Maricar’s assets because of making misleading statements to clients, participating in financial promotions, and did regulated activities in the UK without authorization.
Apart from the clients’ monthly subscriptions, the regulator claimed Maricar had received commissions from ‘partnered broker’ he advocated to register and make their orders through its program.
The FCA brought the case in April 2020, which had already suspended £624,000 of the respondent’s assets. The court found out that neither Mr. Maricar nor his company was authorized to give any form of currencies and commodities investment advice.
Mark Steward, market oversight at the FCA and executive director of enforcement, urged consumers to deal with FCA authorized firms when seeking investing advice. Including providing signals or tips via social media apps and keep off unauthorized individual entrepreneurs such as Mr. Maideen Maricar or unverified firms like in the case of 24HR Trading Academy Ltd.
