He remains locked up in ‘Sun City’ prison in Joburg. From Moneyweb.
The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has debarred BHI Trust’s admitted fraudster, Craig Warriner, from offering financial services for a period of 30 years.
This follows an investigation spanning more than 10 years into Warriner and the BHI Trust that he founded.
The FSCA found that BHI Trust, and Warriner as its trustee, violated financial regulations by exercising discretion in buying and selling securities on behalf of some clients when he was not an authorised Financial Services Provider (FSP). These services require a Category II FSP licence, which neither Warriner nor BHI Trust possessed.
This contravened Section 7(1) of the Financial Advisory and Intermediaries Service (Fais) Act. Warriner was also found in violation of Section 13 of the act by rendering financial services to clients on behalf of BHI Trust.
The FSCA 30-year debarment prohibits Warriner from:
- Providing, or being involved in the provision of, financial services;
- Acting as a key person in a financial institution; and
- Providing specified financial services to a financial institution, whether under outsourcing arrangements or otherwise.
Warriner, a former insurance salesman-turned-day trader, handed himself over to police in October 2023 and confessed to using the “the funds of Peter to pay Paul” after his day trading ventures came unstuck during the 2008 financial crash. He believed he could trade his way back to solvency, but things only got worse thereafter.
Read: Craig Warriner of BHI Trust surrenders to police for alleged fraud
He managed to conceal his mounting losses from clients, providing them with fake statements of return right up until the moment he handed himself over to the police.
One BHI client statement from September 2023 provided to Moneyweb showed a monthly performance net of fees of 1.78% and a rolling 12-month return of 15.18%.
Warriner initially offered to fully cooperate with the police and declined the services of a lawyer. That quickly changed when he appeared before the Palm Ridge Magistrates Court south of Johannesburg in December last year in a failed attempt to apply for bail. He remains behind bars but is due to appear in court again later this month.
Warriner cooperating with liquidators
Moneyweb understands he is cooperating with the provisional liquidators who are attempting to track the flow of funds into and out of various bank accounts controlled by Warriner. All investigators could find was R4.8 million in BHI’s main Nedbank account.
So far, the claims against BHI Trust exceed R1.64 billion from 823 investors, though the figure is still growing. The joint trustees have started issuing letters of demand for the repayment of funds received from BHI.
The trustees are also investigating the role of brokers and agents connected with BHI, and in March executed a search and seizure warrant against Global & Local, which reportedly received 5% commissions for funds directed towards BHI.
As Moneyweb previously reported, Warriner told the court at his bail hearing in December last year that he had been investigated by authorities several times in the past – in 2013, 2017 and 2020 – and each time cooperated. It appears nothing substantive came of these investigations.
Warriner told the court that he was “doing alright” as an equity investor until the financial crash of 2008, when he lost roughly half his clients’ capital.
The FSCA debarment notice warns the public to check whether entities or individuals offering financial services are licensed by the regulator and what category of service they are registered to provide.
The licence categories are displayed here, and an online search facility for licensed entities is available here.
