FCA bans mortgage adviser

Shruti Patel was sentenced on 9 November to 18 months imprisonment, was disqualified for 10 years and ordered to pay £13,115.98.

FCA bans mortgage adviser

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has banned Shruti Patel, who was an adviser.

Patel had six aliases, which included Cindy Brad, Swati Patel, Swatiben M Patel, Churuti Patel and Churuti Brad.

In 2009, under the name Shruti Patel, she was sentenced at Leicester Crown Court to three counts of theft, three counts of obtaining a money transfer by deception and one count of obtaining services by deception.

Patel was sentenced on 9 November to 18 months imprisonment, was disqualified for 10 years and ordered to pay £13,115.98.

As a result, the authority deemed that Patel was “not a fit and proper person”.

The offences were committed over a period of around 15 months between 19 December 2004 and 11 April 2006.

During that period, Patel ran a business in Leicester called Mortgage Deals for You and obtained loans and mortgages fraudulently by using the names and data of two of her customers.

The total amount she stole from various banks and other institutions was £169,000.

The FCA also detailed that under the name of Cindy Brad, she was an appointed representative of an authorised independent financial advisor, from 22 August 2017 to 24 February 2018.

During the sentencing, Judge Hammond said Patel’s offence constituted “a serious breach of trust... it was a systematic fraud, carefully worked out by a professional over a period of time.”

The authority has made an order prohibiting Patel from performing any function in relation to any regulated activity carried on by an authorised person, exempt person or exempt professional firm, for the reasons described above.