As the case for the prosecution closes, the jury are read out a number of agreed facts.
These contain statements which are in not in dispute between the parties but can form important background information for the jury.
Collateral (UK) Limited was a finance company which facilitated investments crowdfunded by members of the public. The firm and two related companies entered administration in April 2018.
The two defendants, Andrew Currie, 57, and Peter Currie, 59, both deny two charges under the Fraud Act 2006 and one charge under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 in this criminal prosecution brought by the Financial Conduct Authority.
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Contemporaneous reporting by Joe Morgan who tweets @nottherealjoe
The following facts are agreed between the prosecution and defence:
Emails
On 22 March 2019 a USB drive, containing 18GB of data, was delivered by BDO to the FCA office at Stratford.
This contained a copy of all emails which BDO had been able to recover in their role as administrators of Collateral (UK) Ltd.
A search was conducted to confirm attributable email addresses and volume of traffic to each address. The results were comprised of messages sent and received by each address (including cc and bcc).
For the emails which are named Collateral a date range was applied from 1 June 2015 to March 2018. This revealed the following:
| Email Address | Hits |
| Andrew Currie | |
| andrew@collateraluk.com | 7,998 |
| andrew@[personalaccount].com | 5 |
| andrewdcurrie@[personalaccount].com | 57 |
| ac@assetcash.co.uk | 106 |
| ac@regalpawnbroker.com | 200 |
| Peter Currie | |
| peter@collateral.com | 1 |
| peter@collateraluk.com | 8,790 |
| peter@mattanie.co.uk | 36 |
| peter@pcs.eu.com | 393 |
| pc@regalpawnbroker.com | 127 |
| Gordon White | |
| gordon@collateraluk.com | 4,234 |
| dizzypress@[personalaccount].com | 33 |
Collateral companies
Collateral UK Ltd
Records obtained from Companies House show that Collateral UK Ltd was incorporated on 17 November 2014. Its directors at that time were Andrew Currie and Peter Currie. It issued two shares of £1 each: Andrew Currie and Peter Currie held one each. At the time of incorporation, its registered office was Suite 1, 24-26, London Road, Holmes Chapel, CW4 7AL.
On 18 June 2015, its registered office was changed to 12th Floor, Blue Tower, Media City UK, Salford, Manchester, M50 2ST.
On 23 February 2016, Andrew Currie’s appointment as director of CUKL was terminated. Also on 23 February 2016, Andrew Currie transferred his share in CUKL to Peter Currie.
Andrew Currie was re-appointed as a director of CUKL on 14 February 2018.
Collateral Agent Ltd
Records obtained from Companies House show that Collateral Agent Ltd (“CAL”) was incorporated on 22 September 2016. Its sole director and shareholder was Peter Currie.
Collateral Sales Ltd
Records obtained from Companies House show that Collateral Sales Ltd (“CSL”) was incorporated on 22 September 2016. Its sole director and shareholder at the time of incorporation was Peter Currie. On 14 February 2018, Andrew Currie was appointed a director.
Collateral Security Trustee Ltd
Records from Companies House show that Collateral Security Trustee Ltd (“CSTL”) was incorporated on 22 September 2016. Its sole director and shareholder at the time of incorporation was Peter Currie. On 14 February 2018, Andrew Currie was appointed a director.
HMRC Records
HMRC records in respect of Andrew Currie obtained on 1 April 2021 contain the following information:
i. Residential Address: [Redacted], Longton, Preston, PR4 [xxx];
ii. The tax return history was:
| Tax Year | Self-Assessment Return/Notice to File a return Issued date | Return Status | Due date for the Return to be submitted | Date Return Filed |
| 2015-16 | 26-01-2018 | Not returned | 02-05-2018 | |
| 2016-17 | 01-02-2018 | Not returned | 08-05-2018 | |
| 2017-18 | 06-04-2018 | Not returned | 31-01-2019 | |
| 2018-19 | Not issued | |||
| 2019-20 | Not issued |
iii. No PAYE Employment records were held for the tax years 2015-16 to 2019-20;
iv. No HMRC tax credit records were held from 2015;
v. No VAT records were held.
Andrew Currie previous matters
Records held on the Police National Computer (PNC) for Andrew Currie show the following convictions:
i. Driving a motor vehicle with excess alcohol on 13 June 2015. He pleaded guilty to this on 9 July 2015;
ii. Driving whilst disqualified and using a vehicle whilst uninsured on 18 November 2015. He pleaded guilty to this on 11 January 2016.
Andrew Currie interview
Andrew Currie was interviewed under caution by the FCA on 3 November 2020. He was accompanied by a solicitor and was cautioned. He provided a prepared statement after which he made no comment to the further questions he was asked.
Refresh Recovery
Refresh Recovery is not authorised and regulated by the FCA.
Account balances
On 28th February 2018, the balance within the Collateral (UK) Ltd business account was £377,960.69.
On 27th April 2018, the figure secured by BDO from the Collateral (UK) Ltd business account was £383,243.54.
On 28th February 2018, the balance within the Collateral (UK) Ltd client account was £342,104.45.
On 27th April 2018, the figure secured by BDO from the Collateral (UK) Ltd client account was £429,307.30.
Payments from Collateral accounts
Between the 9th July 2015 and 9th February 2018, a total of £74,398.00 was paid by CUKL to DWF LLP. The final payment was for £10,000 which was paid from the CUKL client account. All previous payments to DWF were made from the CUKL Corporate account.
Between the 9th July 2015 and 27th February 2018, a total of £126,192.00 was paid to Tony Lambrou’s company White Feather Designs Limited. The following final two payments were made from the CUKL client account:
i. 26th February 2018: £13,104;
ii. 27th February 2018: £36,000.
All previous payments to White Feather Designs Limited were made from the CUKL Corporate account.
On 27th February 2018, £398,002.03 was transferred from the CUKL client account into the CUKL Corporate account.
The following payments totalling £116,000 have been identified:
| Description | Amount | Date |
| TRANSFER VIA FASTER PAYMENT TO Refresh Recovery Client REFERENCE REFRESH RECOVERY C | £88,000 | 27th February 2018 |
| TRANSFER VIA FASTER PAYMENT TO Andy Currie REFERENCE Consultancy Fee | £20,000 | 27th February 2018 |
| TRANSFER VIA FASTER PAYMENT TO Andy Currie REFERENCE Professional fees | £8,000 | 28th February 2018 |
The payment of £88,000 was repaid to BDO in accordance with the undertakings given in the High Court proceedings.
Between the 27th February and 15th March 2018 the following payments totalling £10,710.77 were made from the CUKL Corporate account:
| Description | Amount | Date |
| TRANSFER VIA FASTER PAYMENT TO Chris Phelan REFERENCE CHRIS PHELAN | 2,000.00 | 27/02/2018 |
| CARD PAYMENT TO GODADDY COM EUROPE,0.94 GBP ON 43157 | 0.94 | 28/02/2018 |
| TRANSFER VIA FASTER PAYMENT TO GMR Accountants REFERENCE GMR ACCOUNTANTS | 6,450.00 | 28/02/2018 |
| TRANSFER VIA FASTER PAYMENT TO Peter Currie REFERENCE Expenses | 400.00 | 28/02/2018 |
| CARD PAYMENT TO TICKLED TROUT,19.00 GBP ON 43158 | 19.00 | 01/03/2018 |
| DIRECT DEBIT PAYMENT TO GOCARDLESS REF TECHADVANCE-CHJJQ9, MANDATE NO 0009 | 200.16 | 01/03/2018 |
| DIRECT DEBIT PAYMENT TO HISCOX DD REF 0930429/0007635239, MANDATE NO 0006 | 46.24 | 02/03/2018 |
| DIRECT DEBIT PAYMENT TO NEST REF IT000002875457, MANDATE NO 0011 | 58.30 | 02/03/2018 |
| STANDING ORDER VIA FASTER PAYMENT TO Andy Currie REFERENCE Collateral , MANDATE NO MPG | 500.00 | 02/03/2018 |
| CARD PAYMENT TO VERIFONE TAXI/PRIVATE,16.94 GBP ON 01-03-2018 | 16.94 | 03/03/2018 |
| CARD PAYMENT TO TAXI FARE BY VERIFONE,8.36 GBP ON 43160 | 8.36 | 03/03/2018 |
| CARD PAYMENT TO TRAINLINE,20.40 GBP ON 01-03-2018 | 20.40 | 03/03/2018 |
| CARD PAYMENT TO WEST COAST TRAINS,12.00 GBP ON 43160 | 12.00 | 03/03/2018 |
| CARD PAYMENT TO WEST COAST TRAINS,12.00 GBP ON 43160 | 12.00 | 03/03/2018 |
| CARD PAYMENT TO WEST COAST TRAINS,289.50 GBP ON 43160 | 289.50 | 03/03/2018 |
| CARD PAYMENT TO GODADDY COM EUROPE,67.51 GBP ON 43160 | 67.51 | 03/03/2018 |
| CARD PAYMENT TO GODADDY COM EUROPE,40.87 GBP ON 43160 | 40.87 | 03/03/2018 |
| CARD PAYMENT TO CEVICHE,120.15 GBP ON 01-03-2018 | 120.15 | 03/03/2018 |
| CARD PAYMENT TO CMT (UK) LTD – GLASGOW,13.80 GBP ON 01-03-2018 | 13.80 | 05/03/2018 |
| CARD PAYMENT TO Audible Ltd,7.99 GBP ON 43162 | 7.99 | 06/03/2018 |
| CARD PAYMENT TO WWW.ALLIESCOMPUTING.CO,42.00 GBP ON 04-03-2018 | 42.00 | 06/03/2018 |
| CARD PAYMENT TO AMAZON SVCS EU-UK AMAZON.,39.99 GBP ON 02-03-2018 | 39.99 | 06/03/2018 |
| CARD PAYMENT TO HOSTGATOR,10.74 GBP ON 04-03-2018 | 10.74 | 06/03/2018 |
| CARD PAYMENT TO GODADDY COM EUROPE,14.38 GBP ON 43164 | 14.38 | 07/03/2018 |
| CARD PAYMENT TO GOOGLE *ADWS9318402849,231.43 GBP ON 08-03-2018 | 231.43 | 10/03/2018 |
| CARD PAYMENT TO ADOBE PRODUCTS,19.97 GBP ON 43169 | 19.97 | 13/03/2018 |
| CHARGES FROM 2018-02-01 TO 2018-02-28 | 68.10 | 15/03/2018 |
Therefore following the payments set out above, of the £398,002.03 transferred from the CUKL client account on 27th February 2018, £271,291.26 remained in the CUKL Corporate account and formed part of total closing balance on that account of £376,113.33 on 15th March 2023.
Peter Currie has no previous convictions, cautions or warnings recorded against him.
After the appointment of BDO, Peter Currie provided BDO with a spreadsheet setting out the amount that he said should have been in the client account at the point of administration. BDO conducted checks on that sum. The amount that was in fact in the client account as at 28 February 2018 was within £28,000 of that sum.
It is accepted that the funds held on the CUKL client account as at 12th February 2018 were made up of:
1. uninvested client monies;
2. interest due to clients; and
3. interest and fees generated for CUKL under the relevant loan agreements.
Both Curries deny two charges under the Fraud Act 2006 and one charge under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002
The first count of fraud alleges they dishonestly made a false representation to investors and potential investors that the company Collateral UK Limited was authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
The second count of fraud claims the Curries abused their positions, in which they were expected to safeguard, and not act against, the financial interests of the company by transferring £275,000 from Collateral to Auri Developments Ltd.
The third charge relates to converting criminal property, suggesting the Curries converted credits to the total value of £372,299.52 to bank accounts owned by Andrew Currie, knowing or suspecting it to be proceeds of crime, namely fraud by misrepresentation.
The trial continues.
Case details:
Court 12 Southwark Crown Court
Before His Honour Judge Griffith
4th May 2023 Morning session
Case number: T20220056
CURRIE Andrew
CURRIE Peter
The Financial Conduct Authority are represented by barrister Stuart Biggs, assisted by Thomas Coke-Smyth.
Peter Currie is represented by barrister Colin Aylott KC, assisted by Ashley Hendron.
Andrew Currie is represented by barrister Henry Grunwald OBE KC, assisted by Oliver Renton.
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