The financial watchdog has banned and fined three former wealth managers from Dolfin Financial after discovering they ran a scheme designed to help clients circumvent UK investor visa rules. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) found that the executives created a false impression that visa requirements for entering and living in the UK had been met.
Between 2016 and 2019, the trio offered a scheme where clients paid a £400,000 fee instead of investing £2m of their own money into UK companies, as mandated by Home Office investor visa rules. This enabled 99 individuals to obtain investor visas and generated £35.5m in fees for Dolfin-connected businesses and immigration agents.
Former chief executive Denisz Nagy was fined £324,800 and banned from financial services. Former finance director Sanjay Maraj received a £122,000 fine and was also banned. Dolfin co-founder Roman Joukovski was banned from financial services, though he has appealed his ban to the Upper Tribunal, meaning his punishment has not yet taken effect.
Therese Chambers, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, stated that the individuals ran a scheme to get around the UK’s investor visa rules, undermining their purpose of attracting genuine investment, and then sought to hide its operation. Nagy and Joukovski played leading roles in creating and running the scheme, while Maraj handled the financial aspects. Nagy and Maraj reportedly concealed the arrangement's true nature from the FCA and Home Office, and Joukovski concealed his involvement with Dolfin and his role from the watchdog.
The government closed the investor visa scheme, often called the 'golden visa', in February 2022 due to security and money-laundering concerns. Ministers are reportedly considering a new investor visa route.