By PAUL O’DONOGHUE, Senior Correspondent
THE UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has banned three former executives at wealth manager Dolfin Financial after finding they ran a scheme designed to bypass golden visa rules.
Officials banned former chief executive Denisz Nagy, former finance director Sanjay Maraj and Dolfin co-founder Roman Joukovski.
Between 2016 and 2019, at least 99 people obtained so-called ‘golden’ investor visas through the scheme. Most paid £400,000 rather than investing the required £2 million of their own money in UK companies.
“The scheme enabled at least 99 individuals to obtain investor visas and generated at least £35.5m in fees for Dolfin-connected businesses and the immigration agents that introduced clients,” the FCA said.
“The FCA found the scheme was deliberately designed to create the false impression that the visa requirements had been met.”
Additionally, the FCA fined Nagy £324,800, and handed out a £122,000 penalty to Maraj.
Joukovski has referred the FCA’s decision to the Upper Tribunal. The FCA’s findings against him are provisional until the tribunal rules on the case.
UK ‘golden’ investor visa scheme
The UK government stopped accepting new applications for the Tier 1 Investor visa on February 2022.
This was due to concerns that wealthy individuals with links to corruption and financial crime could easily access these ‘golden visas’.
The UK has since acted against many clients who used the scheme, including by refusing applications for leave to remain and indefinite leave to remain.
The FCA found that Nagy and Joukovski played leading roles in creating and operating the scheme, allowing clients to invest well under £2 million and still secure golden visas. Maraj handled its financial aspects after the scheme was established.
The FCA also found that Nagy and Maraj deliberately concealed the scheme’s true nature from the regulator and Home Office.
It said Joukovski concealed his involvement with Dolfin and his role in the scheme. He also acted as a shadow director without FCA approval and controlled the firm without informing the regulator.
“These individuals ran a scheme designed to get around the UK’s investor visa rules, undermining their purpose of attracting genuine investment into the UK,” Therese Chambers, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said. “They then sought to hide how it operated.”
The FCA restricted Dolfin’s activities in March 2021 following concerns that included its Tier 1 investor visa business and financial crime controls. The firm entered special administration in June 2021.
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