On 22nd January 2021 the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced that convicted insider dealer Walid Choucair was ordered to pay £3.9m in confiscation and £400,000 in prosecution costs at Southwark Crown Court.
Financial Conduct Authority Charges | Rosenblatt’s Financial Crime Team
Choucair, a day trader of financial securities, was convicted of five offences of insider dealing and sentenced to 3 years’ imprisonment in June 2019 alongside Fabiana Abdel-Malek, a former senior compliance offer at UBS AG. Abdel-Malek abused her position to access inside information on UBS AG compliance systems to Choucair.
Their convictions were upheld by the Court of Appeal on 16th December 2020 after the court found there was no irregularity or unfairness in relation to alleged insufficient disclosure by the FCA.
The total amount confiscated from Choucair, £3,893,964.82, takes into account the amount of profit of approximately £1.4m he made from the five insider dealing charges. The total amount confiscated exceeds the profits generated from the prosecuted offences. This is as a result of the application of the confiscation regime which permits the court in this case to assume that profits from other trading also represent proceeds of crime.
Mark Steward, Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight, said: “This confiscation order means Mr Choucair will have to surrender significant illegal trading profits following his convictions for insider dealing. Today’s order demonstrates that insider dealing does not pay.”
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/
