Serious Fraud Office steps in at Keydata

The Serious Fraud Office is to investigate £103m of missing assets in
collapsed financial services company Keydata Investment Services after
administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers noticed a ‘black hole’ in the accounts.

The latest development has meant PwC has stopped trying to sell the
business,
the
Times reported, which originally entered into administration due to a £5m
unpaid tax bill.

Over 5,000 people who invested in Keydata’s secure income bonds will have
their income payments suspended with a further 240 investors who paid over £2m
in property bonds also having their funds frozen.

Over 85,000 investors in Keydata have been told if assets cannot be recovered
or traced they can lodge a claim with the Financial Services Compensation
Scheme. However the FSCS pays a maximum of £48,000 for investment cases with
PwC claiming around half of investors will be owed more than that.

Shortly after being appointed administrators, PwC discovered that £103m
invested with fund manager SLS Capital was missing and may have been
‘misappropriated’.

A spokesperson for the FSA said: ‘If it emerges that Keydata has caused
customers to suffer a financial loss and cannot meet its liabilities, the
Financial Services Compensation Scheme may be able to help.’

‘The concerns only came to light during PWC’s detailed forensic examination
of Keydata’s business and it remains a complex situation’
the
Guardian reported.

Further reading:

Keydata will not be sold whole, says PwC