FSA hands £1m to UK 'boiler room' scam victims

LONDON - UK regulators have secured a court order for the return of £1 million to investors caught up in a 'boiler room' scam operated by overseas entities selling worthless shares to UK investors. The Financial Servcies Authority (FSA) has obtained an order that Aniz Kassamali Dhanji Manji, owner of Bayshore Nominees, must return the money, while his co-conspirator and sole director of the firm, Suresh Maganlal Bhowan, will pay a further £17,233.

Investors received cold calls inviting them to buy shares from unauthorised short sellers Gatemore Securities and Enterprise Analytics. Gatemore and Enterprise sent out confirmation notes asking for payments. Bayshore then received the payments and these were spirited offshore via other accounts. Jonathan Phelan, head of the FSA's retail enforcement division, said he was pleased with the deal, but asked investors to remain vigilant of such cons as "in most cases consumers will never see any of their money again". The regulator has invited investors to contact it to secure their compensation.