Dr Muhammed Aleem Mirza, Michael Moore and Paul Moore were all put behind bars on Wednesday for misleading investors who bought shares in Symbiosis Healthcare which turned out to be worthless.
A fourth defendant, Samrat Bhandari, the “prime mover” in the sale of the dodgy shares according to the judge, had his sentencing adjourned and will be remanded in custody until his next court appearance in late January 2018. He withdrew an earlier offer to reimburse investors for their losses before his sentencing.
Dr Muhammed Aleem Mirza, the founder of Symbiosis, was jailed for 15 months for his part in the scam which “brought about his professional ruin”, the judge said. He was also banned from being a director for eight years.
Both Mirza and Bhandari were convicted on 30 November 2017 following a 49-day trial at Southwark Crown Court.
After admitting to their crimes at an earlier hearing, Michael Moore and his brother Paul Moore were jailed for 15 months and nine months respectively. Both sentences were added on to the existing jail time the brothers are currently serving.
Each are already serving seven-year sentences for their roles in a separate investment scheme, and have been banned from acting as directors for the next decade.
Between 2009 and 2014, each of the four defendants played an “instrumental role” in a systematic and prolonged misleading of investors, the FCA said.
Many of their victims were retired and vulnerable, and were sold shares on the back of misleading information given about Symbiosis Healthcare, a company set up by Dr Aleem Mirza.
Mark Steward, director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: “The perpetrators of this scheme repeatedly misled investors for their own gain. The FCA is committed to ensuring that the operators of unauthorised investment schemes are brought to justice and are accountable for their misconduct.”
