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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has banned David James Carter Mullins, Edward John Booth, Christopher Paul Brotherton and Mark Robert Kennedy, the former directors and shareholders of Secure My Money Limited (now dissolved). ( traded as i-loansdirect, LoanZoo and the 1loan )
The firm took fees of over £7.2 million from approximately 124,000 online customers by duping them into believing they had been approved for short term loans.
https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-re...ding-customers
2
to dishonest marketing tactics is important to the Authority’s consumer protection objective.
2.2.
Mr Brotherton was a director and shareholder of Secure My Money Limited (the ‘Firm’ or ‘Secure My Money’), an online credit broker. The Firm ran various websites under different brands including LoanZoo, i-loansdirect, and The1Loan.
2.3.
Between 15 November 2013 and 30 May 2014 (the ‘Relevant Period’), Mr Brotherton demonstrated a lack of honesty and integrity in that he caused or permitted the Firm to present false and misleading information to its customers and treat its customers unfairly by:
(1)
Running a credit broker which claimed to search hundreds of lenders and to match customers to the best loan offers but which simply presented all customers with the same standard list of offers (many of which were not even lenders);
(2)
Misrepresenting to customers that they had been approved by a lender for a loan when they had not;
(3)
Failing to make it clear that a fee would be charged (with some customers unaware they were dealing with a broker);
(4)
Misrepresenting to customers that it was taking card payment details for the purposes of account verification when it was taking card details in order to deduct fees;
(5)
Passing customer information to third parties other than lenders without consent, including dishonestly redirecting customers attempting to access loan offers to a third party for re-sale of those customers’ details, thereby creating a risk that the Firm’s customers would be redirected to other credit brokers and charged further fees;
(6)
Charging customers monthly “membership fees” without consent; and
(7)
Failing to pay refunds to customers who had requested them in a timely manner (or in some cases at all).
The firm took fees of over £7.2 million from approximately 124,000 online customers by duping them into believing they had been approved for short term loans.
https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-re...ding-customers
- Final notices for Mark Robert Kennedy, David James Carter Mullins, Edward John Booth and Christopher Paul Brotherton.
- The FCA’s bans are for unlimited duration subject to individual rights to apply for bans to be lifted at a later date.
2
to dishonest marketing tactics is important to the Authority’s consumer protection objective.
2.2.
Mr Brotherton was a director and shareholder of Secure My Money Limited (the ‘Firm’ or ‘Secure My Money’), an online credit broker. The Firm ran various websites under different brands including LoanZoo, i-loansdirect, and The1Loan.
2.3.
Between 15 November 2013 and 30 May 2014 (the ‘Relevant Period’), Mr Brotherton demonstrated a lack of honesty and integrity in that he caused or permitted the Firm to present false and misleading information to its customers and treat its customers unfairly by:
(1)
Running a credit broker which claimed to search hundreds of lenders and to match customers to the best loan offers but which simply presented all customers with the same standard list of offers (many of which were not even lenders);
(2)
Misrepresenting to customers that they had been approved by a lender for a loan when they had not;
(3)
Failing to make it clear that a fee would be charged (with some customers unaware they were dealing with a broker);
(4)
Misrepresenting to customers that it was taking card payment details for the purposes of account verification when it was taking card details in order to deduct fees;
(5)
Passing customer information to third parties other than lenders without consent, including dishonestly redirecting customers attempting to access loan offers to a third party for re-sale of those customers’ details, thereby creating a risk that the Firm’s customers would be redirected to other credit brokers and charged further fees;
(6)
Charging customers monthly “membership fees” without consent; and
(7)
Failing to pay refunds to customers who had requested them in a timely manner (or in some cases at all).
