Three insurance fraudsters banned by City watchdog

A TRIO of insurance professionals have been banned from working in regulated finance by the City watchdog for taking part in a £2 million fraud.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) ruled that Timothy Higgins, Clifford Felstead and Ralph Brunswick would be banned from operating in regulated financial services after they were involved in a scam that defrauded three insurance firms and exposed them to significant losses.

Higgins, director and founder of a firm known as Surety Guarantee Consultants (SGC), would also have been fined 600,000 if he had not recently been made bankrupt.

Brunswick was also disqualified as acting as a director for 13 years and six months by the Isle of Man regulator last year.

Margaret Cole, FSA director of enforcement and financial crime, said: "All these men fell woefully short of the standards expected of them. They abused the trust placed in them by leading London insurers in order to make a profit for themselves."