Finance journalism of a criminal fraud trial

The investigative court reporting blog mouseinthecourt is crowdfunding to enable us to provide coverage of the criminal trial brought by the Financial Conduct Authority against the directors of Collateral (UK) Ltd.

The directors were Peter Currie, 59, and Andrew Currie, 57.

They have previously pleaded not guilty to two charges under the Fraud Act 2006, and one charge under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 at a court hearing in February 2022.

A jury trial, at Southwark Crown Court, commenced on Monday, April 17th 2023 with a time estimate of four-five weeks.

Automatic reporting restrictions rightly prevent us and others from speculating about what might be said at trial, or what evidence might be adduced.

What we can say is that contemporaneous reporting of the trial is likely to not only be of interest to those who used the Collateral platform, but will also provide a unique insight for others into how the FCA investigates and prosecutes a case.

We are therefore raising funds to enable an investigative journalist to attend court to accurately and fairly report on proceedings.

The blog has booked Transparency Task Force’s head of Investigative Reporting Alex Varley-Winter , in a freelance capacity, to cover the first week. Her previous work can be seen here, and her work for the TTF is here.

Coverage of the trial is likely to cost around £2,850, and as we have no idea how generous our readers will be we are initially limiting our coverage to the first week, comprised of four-days because of the bank holiday.

Monies raised in excess of this will be used to fund additional reporting of the rest of the trial and further coverage of peer-to-peer lending cases.

Previous reporting of the P2P industry by the mouseinthecourt can be read here.

Can I attend the hearing?

Yes, this is a public hearing and courtroom 12 has a public gallery for you to sit in.

The hearing lists for Southwark Crown Court are published the evening before on courtserve.net.

Expect to arrive at court half an hour before the start time to get through the airport-style security and find your way to the courtroom. You should be able to enter the hearing at any time provided you don't disrupt proceedings.