On 17 January 2017, Mr Dharam Prakash Gopee appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court charged with offences under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. The prosecution follows a Financial Conduct Authority investigation into Mr Gopee and the companies he controlled.
It is alleged that Mr Gopee conducted a regulated activity without authorisation by acting as a lender of last resort to consumers who were often in difficult circumstances. The FCA believes that Mr Gopee and his companies lent in excess of £1 million in the last four years without holding a consumer credit licence from the Office of Fair Trading or authorisation from the FCA.
The case was sent to Southwark Crown Court and a Plea and Trial Preparation Hearing is provisionally listed for 14 February 2017.
The FCA’s full press release can be read here.