Ponzi & Scams
By Maheen Hernandez
1 / 15
Facebook Ads, Fake Returns, a Bedroom in Devon. The scheme itself was pretty brazen. Pugh used Facebook ads to pull in investors, promising…
2 / 15
FCA's Deadline for Victims to Come Forward. The FCA wants to hear from anyone who got caught up in this.
3 / 15
The FCA just got its money back. Sort of. Southwark Crown Court on June 5, 2026, ordered Daniel Pugh to hand over £452,286.
4 / 15
Pugh is 36 years old and already behind bars, serving a seven-and-a-half-year sentence for the fraud. The confiscation order came on top of that.
5 / 15
He's got three months to pay. If he doesn't, he faces up to an extra four years and nine months in prison.
6 / 15
The scheme itself was pretty brazen. Pugh used Facebook ads to pull in investors, promising returns that were, by any reasonable measure, unrealistic.
7 / 15
That's worth pausing on. Nineteen percent. Out of every pound investors gave Pugh, roughly 81 pence wasn't going anywhere near a market.
8 / 15
The total amount defrauded came to £1.3 million. The confiscation order covers only £452,286.80 — basically what the court determined Pugh actually has.
9 / 15
The FCA wants to hear from anyone who got caught up in this. The authority has already reached out to identify eligible victims, but it's now making what it calls a final call.
10 / 15
See also: FCA Mortgage Overhaul Targets Self-Employed and First-Time Buyers With New Flexibility Rules
11 / 15
People already in contact with the FCA are being asked to confirm their details. The authority says that step is needed to actually process payments.
12 / 15
The FCA is also pushing its Firm Checker tool again. It's a database where consumers can verify whether an investment firm is actually authorized to operate.
13 / 15
Fraud like this isn't unique to the UK, and it's not unique to traditional finance either. Investment scams using social media ads to recruit victims have become a widespread…
14 / 15
It's a two-track approach: prison time first, then asset recovery. The Proceeds of Crime Act gives the FCA and prosecutors the legal framework to pursue that second track, and…
15 / 15
See also: UKs FCA Eyes 10% Crypto ETN Limit for Mutual Funds
The Currency Analytics
Want the full story?