WIREDGOV

Neil Rollins, a former senior manager of PM Onboard Limited, a waste industry firm, was today sentenced to 27 months in prison for insider dealing and money laundering. Rollins was also ordered to pay £197,000.66 in confiscation.

On 26 November 2010, after a trial, Rollins was found guilty of five counts of insider dealing and four counts of money laundering after he traded on the basis of information he obtained as a result of his senior position and laundered the proceeds.

Based on his knowledge of the company’s worsening financial position he sold his entire shareholding in PM Group plc and encouraged his wife to do the same. When Rollins became aware of the Financial Services Authority’s (FSA’s) interest in his dealing he laundered the proceeds to try to hide his conduct.

In passing sentence His Honour Judge Wadsworth QC said:

“You sold when you knew it was folly to buy. Every pound you saved was a pound someone else spent … by selling early you broke the trust of your employer and you broke the trust owed to the market”

Margaret Cole, managing director of enforcement and financial crime at the FSA, said:

"By pursuing a criminal prosecution in this case, the FSA has shown that it will take tough action against those who abuse positions of trust by dealing on the basis of inside information. Rollins’ crime was aggravated by the fact that he sought to hide his conduct from the FSA by laundering the proceeds.

"The guilty verdicts and sentence in this case send a message, loud and clear, that insider dealing and money laundering are serious crimes."

Costs are to be decided at a later hearing.

Notes to editors

1. In August and September 2006, Rollins sold his entire shareholding in PM Group plc raising substantial proceeds (£173,875). When information about the company’s worsening financial position was announced to the market the share price fell immediately by 17 % and then continued to fall over a two week period so that by selling his shares when he did he avoided substantial losses, he also encouraged his wife, Louisa Rollins, to do the same with her entire shareholding. Rollins subsequently laundered the money by transferring the proceeds of his crime into accounts that he had set up in the name of his father, David Rollins.
2. The FSA has so far secured 10 convictions in relation to insider dealing: Christopher McQuoid and James William Melbourne in March 2009; Matthew and Neel Uberoi in November 2009, Malcolm Calvert on 11 March 2010, Anjam Ahmad on 22 June 2010 and Christian Littlewood, Angie Littlewood and Helmy Omar Sa'aid due to be sentenced on 31 January 2011. Details of each case are available on the FSA website.
3. The FSA is currently prosecuting 12 other individuals for insider dealing:
   

   Name	Trial date
   Bijal Shah	commencing 19 September 2011
   Truptesh Patel	commencing 19 September 2011
   Paresh Shah	commencing 19 September 2011
   Mitesh Shah	commencing 19 September 2011
   Neten Shah	commencing 19 September 2011
   Ali Mustafa	commencing 19 September 2011
   Pardip Saini	commencing 19 September 2011
   James Paul Sanders	Magistrates hearing 28 March 2011
   Miranda Sanders	Magistrates hearing 28 March 2011
   Christopher Hossain	Magistrates hearing 28 March 2011
   James Swallow	Magistrates hearing 28 March 2011
   Adam Buck	Magistrates hearing 28 March 2011

4. The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 gives the FSA powers to investigate and prosecute insider dealing, defined by The Criminal Justice Act 1993.
5. The Supreme Court confirmed on 28 July 2010 in this case that the FSA has the power to bring proceedings for money laundering offences.
6. Individuals with information about market abuse can call the FSA’s market abuse hotline on 020 7066 4900.
7. The FSA regulates the financial services industry and has four objectives under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000: maintaining market confidence; securing the appropriate degree of protection for consumers; fighting financial crime; and contributing to the protection and enhancement of the stability of the UK financial system.