An adviser accused of carrying out regulated activity without authorisation has pleaded guilty to the offence at Southwark Crown Court.
Larry Barreto pleaded guilty to two counts of carrying on regulated activities without authorisation, relating to advice and arrangements made on a series of regulated mortgage contracts between June 2014 and March 2018.
The case, which was referred to the courts by the Financial Conduct Authority, saw Barreto plead guilty to these charges on 29 July, says the regulator in an update today (10 August).
The FCA says: “Mr Barreto is an unauthorised and prohibited person and as such could not provide regulated financial services.”
Barreto is also charged, along with Tassib Hussain, with committing fraud by false representation. They both deny committing this offence and will face trial on 23 October 2023.
Sentencing for the offences of trading as an unauthorised business will take place after the fraud trial ends.
Barreto traded as Barreto and Partners, an unauthorised financial services firm based in Nottingham. Hussain is an accountant who ran Keystone Chartered Accountants also based in Nottingham.
In April, the FCA said the fraud charges relate to a series of mortgage applications made between January 2015 and March 2018.
It said: “The alleged conspiracy involved mortgage clients of Mr Barreto. If Mr Barreto concluded that they had insufficient income to justify the mortgage they required, he would charge the client a fee which he would then pay in cash to Mr Hussain, to create the false self-employment and employment documentation to support mortgage applications for clients with insufficient income. The total value of the mortgages applied for was circa £3.8m.”
Barreto and Hussain first appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 21 April 2021. The case was then sent to Southwark Crown Court for a plea and trial preparation hearing on 19 May 2021.
Fraud is punishable by a fine or up to 10 years in prison. Trading as an unauthorised business is punishable by a fine or up to two years in prison.
