British 'advisers' named in £10m US Ponzi scheme trial

Two UK citizens have been accused of fraud and racketeering in a US court case about a Ponzi scheme spanning three continents.

Stephen White and Martin Kinsey are on a list of several advisers accused of working for Montague Morgan Slade (MMS) through a Dubai-based advisory firm called ExPat Solutions.

According to the court summons filed in New York in April, MMS posed as an investment manager and hedge fund administrator.

Plaintiffs claimed there were no funds and the company does not exist.

Instead it attracted investment from clients via advisers, which has not been returned.

White and Kinsey, neither of whom have ever been registered as advisers in the UK, deny the claims against MMS.

The summons names Michael Brown, Anthony Heald and Gordon Spedding as the owners of MMS.

Stephen White allegedly began selling MMS funds through ExPat Solutions, the Dubai advisory firm he founded in 2004, and received £122,122 from MMS in return.

White stands accused of putting at least nine clients' money into MMS, totalling at £2.4m. An unnamed adviser at ExPat Solutions allegedly put a further £670,000 into the vehicle.

Kinsey is allegedly an investment adviser associated with ExPat Solutions. According to the court summons, he put at least 11 clients into MMS, with a total investment of £1.3m.

The plaintiffs alleged the scam has drawn in 50 victims in Dubai, defrauding them of around £10m.