Rent Free Financial Adviser Jailed

Rent Free Financial Adviser Jailed.

A former financial adviser has been jailed for 27 months at Norwich Crown Court.
Mr Christopher Peacher, a former financial adviser, was found guilty after having befriended a 71 year man who had suffered a stroke and was in poor health.

The victim, Fred Turner, used the financial adviser to arrange a ‘buy to let’ property investment with a mortgage. Mr Peacher duly arranged the purchase and mortgage but then told the victim that there was difficulty in securing a tenant for the property and moved in himself.

Mr Peacher and his family lived in the property, rent free, for 6 months before then paying rent at below market value. To add insult to injury, the mortgage arranged for Mr Turner was not a “buy to let” mortgage but a standard residential mortgage thus rendering the mortgage invalid as Mr Turner did not live there. In simple terms, this was a case of Mortgage Fraud as well as ‘theft’ by not paying rent when living there. It was found that Mr Peacher was in extreme financial difficulty driving him to commit this act of fraud.

The full story can be read at http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/jail_for_financial_adviser_who_defrauded_disabled_pensioner_who_wrote_him_into_his_will_1_3938240

The Financial Conduct Authority has struck Mr Peacher and banned him, in addition the Judge also banned Mr Peacher from being a company director

Our view

Being a financial adviser really is a position of trust and we speak to vulnerable adults every day. Incidents like this, whilst uncommon within financial services happen in all industries and walks of life, it is just a shame that people suffer. At least, in this case, the fraud was identified. That said, with Mr Peacher jailed and in debt, we hope the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (which we contribute to) will be involved to compensate Mr Turner for his financial losses and distress.