FCA Confiscation Order Targets £1.3m Ponzi Fraudster

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has obtained a confiscation order of £452,286.80 against Daniel Pugh, who is serving seven years and six months for defrauding investors of £1.3m through a Ponzi scheme operated from his Devon home.

Pugh, 36, used Facebook advertising to recruit investors, promising unrealistic returns supposedly generated by trading across multiple markets. In reality, only 19% of the funds collected were ever traded, with the remainder sustaining the appearance of a legitimate investment operation run alongside a second individual. The order, granted at Southwark Crown Court on 5 June 2026, reflects the total value of assets the court identified as available for recovery, and the sums will be directed towards compensating victims under a parallel Compensation Order made pursuant to the Sentencing Act 2020.

The recovery action illustrates the practical reach of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, under which offenders must repay either the benefit obtained from their conduct or the value of their available assets, whichever is lower. Where the figure recovered falls short of the £1.3m defrauded, the gap reflects a familiar challenge in asset recovery: funds dissipated through unauthorised schemes are frequently unrecoverable by the time enforcement concludes, leaving victims only partially made whole. Pugh faces a default sentence of up to four years and nine months should he fail to satisfy the order within three months, a mechanism intended to remove any incentive to withhold disclosed assets.

The case also underscores the continuing exposure presented by social media as a distribution channel for fraudulent investment propositions, and the value of verifying authorisation status before committing funds. The FCA has issued a final call for any remaining victims of the scheme to come forward by 30 June 2026.

Read the press release here.