Benedict Moruthoane, 51 based in Finchley in north London, has been disqualified as a director by the High Court for 14 years after helping to defraud investors of £360,000.
Sutter Capital was incorporated in June 2018 and promised investors returns of between 15% and 22% per annum on bonds based on arbitrage trades within the artisanal & small-scale gold mining market throughout Africa.
Between September and December 2018 the company secured £360,000 from investors. However, Sutter’s promotional material had not received the required approval under Section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, and much of the material contained inaccuracies.
Although Sutter Capital did receive approval for three bonds in October 2018, these could only be marketed to certain categories of investors. The company did not, however, adhere to these restrictions.
Sutter Capital ceased trading in December 2018 and the Administrators raised concerns regarding the directors’ conduct to the Insolvency Service.
The subsequent investigation by the Insolvency Service established that as well as misleading potential investors with information in the promotional material, the company had failed to maintain or keep adequate records. All that was provided to investigators was a single spreadsheet, which showed payments for salaries, commission and expenses, but no investment activity.
The sole director, Eugeniu Sculea, accepted a disqualification undertaking last year for a…
