A trial has been scheduled for September 2027 at Southwark Crown Court in the criminal proceedings brought by the FCA against former WealthTek principal partner, John Dance.
Dance was charged in December 2024 with alleged misappropriation of £64 million of customer funds between 2014 and 2023.
In February, at a plea and trial preparation hearing at Southwark Crown Court, Dance pleaded not guilty to three counts of fraud by abuse of position and three counts of fraud by false representation.
The civil proceedings brought by the FCA in April 2023 will now remain paused until the conclusion of the criminal proceedings or until further order by the Court.
Last December, the FCA charged Dance with nine criminal offences, including multiple counts of fraud and money laundering.
WealthTek, formerly known as Vertus Asset Management, is a wealth management firm that was regulated by the FCA from January 2020 until April 2023 when the regulator ordered the firm to cease operations and appointed special administrators.
Prior to WealthTek obtaining direct authorisation from the FCA in 2020, Vertus operated first as a trading name and then as an appointed representative of Sapia Partners, meaning it could carry out certain regulated activities under Sapia’s supervision.
Dance is accused of fraudulently abusing his position of trust at Vertus and WealthTek for his own personal gain. Between 2014 and 2023, the FCA says Dance transferred over £64 million from client accounts of Vertus and WealthTek to accounts he controlled, which the FCA alleges he used to fund a lavish lifestyle and other business interests including horseracing and a nightclub.
The FCA alleges Dance laundered the proceeds of his criminality through his personal and business bank accounts, including the transfer of £723,000 to purchase six racehorses, and £806,500 in 2014 and £3.9 million in 2020 to purchase residential and commercial property.
Dance is also charged with three further offences of dishonestly making false representations about WealthTek’s regulatory permissions to continue his alleged fraud.
A restraint order obtained by the FCA against John Dance, which aims to preserve assets to make them available for a future confiscation order, remains in place.
