Married couple Clint Canning and Eleise Wallace from Essex were found to have played a leading role in the scam, which primarily targeted elderly people.
Canning was found guilty of fraud by false representation in the South London court on Friday (16 December) while Wallace was convicted of a money laundering related offence.
The court heard that Canning had been running a binary options investment company, Base 2 Trade, which claimed to be involved in fixed odds betting on the trading direction of businesses.
The firm – which is not registered with the Financial Conduct Authority nor present on Companies House records – claimed investors that correctly predicted the direction that the price of a share or asset would go would receive a return.
Victims were unable to then withdraw their money, investments or profits, the court heard, with Base 2 Trade blaming technical contractual reasons.
Crown Prosecution Service lawyer Claire Busby said: “This was a callous and cruel investment fraud which duped around 173 victims into thinking they were buying into a legitimate fixed odds betting scheme. The scheme proved to be a scam, designed only to defraud victims of their money.
“The fraudsters presented themselves in a credible way and secured the trust of many victims. The only people to benefit from the schemes were the fraudsters themselves.”
The pair will be sentenced on 3 February.
Busby added: “I would like to thank the many victims who supported this prosecution,…
