Following an article published by Frances Murray of Rosenblatt’s Financial Crime department on 1st July three former employees of IT service provider Redcentric Plc appeared in court on 23rd September 2020 after an investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) into alleged market abuse.
Financial Conduct Authority Charges | Rosenblatt’s Financial Crime Team
Fraser Fisher, Redcentric’s former Chief Executive, former Chief Financial Officer Timothy Coleman and former finance director Estelle Croft are each charged with two counts of making a false or misleading statement.
Mr Coleman faces four further counts of false accounting, one count of making a false or misleading statement to an auditor and one count of fraud by false representation, contrary to Sections 1 and 2 of the Fraud Act 2006. Ms Croft has also been charged with seven counts of making a false or misleading statement to an auditor and four counts of false accounting. The allegations relate to actions that took place between 1st May 2015 and 31st October 2016.
Redcentric, a publicly listed company founded in 1997 is a managed IT service provider offering network, cloud and collaboration solutions to a range of organisations. Redcentric’s customers include numerous NHS trusts.
In June 2020, the FCA issued a public censure to Redcentric for market abuse, having found that Redcentric had issued unaudited interim results and audited final year results which materially misstated its net debt position and overstated its true asset position in circumstances where it knew, or ought to have known that the information was false and misleading.
This resulted in the market price for Redcentric shares being artificially inflated and investors paying more for share purchases than they would have otherwise done, with combined shareholder losses estimated to be £43 million.
Criminal Prosecutions | Rosenblatt’s Financial Crime Team Explains
The three former employees appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 23rd September 2020. If convicted of making a false or misleading statement they could face a fine and/or up to seven years’ imprisonment.
Rosenblatt can help
Rosenblatt has a wealth of experience in financial crime and is uniquely placed to support clients’ that are the subject of an FCA investigation and prosecution having defended one of the largest prosecutions brought by the Financial Conduct Authority (https://www.rosenblatt-law.co.uk/services/financial-crime/#white-collar-crime).
