The High Court has ordered the closure of Amey Finance Academy following an investigation by the Insolvency Service into its trading practices. The academy, established by Desmond Amey in 2018 to provide financial education on cryptocurrency, misled investors with false assurances and failed to maintain up-to-date accounts, making its financial activities opaque. Despite claiming to offer secure investment opportunities, many consumers lost money, with one investor being casually assured via WhatsApp that their investment was “100 certy” and to “trust me bro.” Investigators found that Amey Finance Academy had not filed accounts since 2021, obscuring the movement of £5 million through its bank account. The academy also lacked authorization from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to provide financial services in the UK and was involved in promoting questionable cryptocurrency schemes like HyperFund, which faced international scrutiny and warnings. Desmond Amey further complicated the investigation by providing contradictory information about his business dealings and falsely claiming FCA authorization. Additionally, his email signature inaccurately portrayed him as the managing director of a dissolved company and implied he still had an office in Canary Wharf despite being evicted for non-payment of rent. The Insolvency Service’s chief investigator, Mark George, condemned Amey’s actions, stating that his misleading practices deprived customers of their investments and necessitated the academy’s shutdown to protect the public from such opaque and deceptive trading. The Official Receiver has been appointed as the liquidator of the company.
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