Alex Hope FXAlex Hope-the young "trader" who infamously dropped over $320,000 on champagne and Grey Goose at a Liverpool nightclub in 2012-has been found guilty of fraud in a $7.6 million investment scheme, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority said in a release.
In 2013, the FCA charged Hope and Raj Von Badlo in an unauthorized investment scheme where they "purported to carry out Forex trading" and took £5 million ($7.6 million) from investors between March 2011 and April 2012.
"Using fraud and false promises, Hope took in those who trusted him to invest their money. He promised fantastic returns but, as is so often the case with unauthorized investment schemes, those who invested ended up with significant losses and the main beneficiary of the scheme was Hope himself," Georgina Philippou of the FCA said in a statement.
According to the FCA, Hope used £2 million for "personal expenditure." The FCA also said that he lost over £500,000 of the £650,000 trading.
In April 2014, Hope admitted to operating a collective investment scheme without authorization.
Von Badlo pleaded guilty to recklessly making false representations to investors and promoting a collective investment scheme without authorization back in July.
The pair will be sentenced later this month.
On Hope's old website, which was taken down back in 2012, he described himself (in the third person) as a "self-taught trader" and a "name to watch out for" specializing in forex and "regularly trading millions."
ZeroHedge was able to save a copy of the full bio:
London born and bred, Alex Hope, 22, is a self-taught trader who specialises in the Foreign Exchange Market. Despite his tender years, Alex is a name to watch out for in the city; an expert in the UK economy, he works the currency markets, regularly trading millions.
Alex teaches people how to make money from trading the biggest financial market in the world, the Foreign Exchange. With a trading volume of $4 trillion a day, in his eyes it is undoubtedly the best and most exciting market to be involved in. Another specialist area for this young entrepreneur is Commodities - Gold, Silver, Copper and Platinum; all materials that have great volume and movement on a daily basis and can earn a healthy profit.
Alex knows and loves the FX market. Throughout his youth, his passions were football and…currencies! At the age of 11, Alex had a deep-rooted interest in the different currencies and relished trips across Europe where he could explore this interest first hand.
After school, he spent just over 2 years in the sporting industry as a Football Coach for Charlton Athletic Community Scheme before moving into the hospitality sector. Although he was making a modest salary of £21k, he could not deny his interest in the financial field and set about teaching himself everything he could and should know about the economy. Whilst still living at home and holding down a full time job, Alex started to trade, opening his first account with just £500; in one day he'd more than doubled his money and turned the £500 into £1100 by trading gold.
As his confidence and knowledge grew, Alex knew this was the world for him and at 20 years old he headed for the city and soon found employment at The Forex Academy in early 2010 as a FX & Commodity Trader. In July this year, he stepped into the spotlight when his career was profiled in The Daily Telegraph, subsequently Alex went onto to work at leading Trading and Commodities company, Zone Invest Group. For a career that started out trading on the local market stalls for pocket money, to a modest £21k salary in the hospitality industry, Alex has since followed his dream in the trading world and his basic salary has entered the six figure bracket!
An entrepruenerial spirit through and through, whilst working full time and in his spare time, Alex also offers private teaching for students interested in learning the tricks of the trade (both one-to-one and small groups), helping others to profit from the liquid market. Many of the individuals travel worldwide to meet with him and glean from his experience.
A talented, charismatic and thoroughly likeable man, Alex Hope exudes knowledge and you can't help but respect and admire this self-taught and self-made young trader. Watch out trading markets, Alex Hope is kicking up a storm!