Regulation
Nexus Director and Manager Plead Guilty to £2 Million Client Fraud
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The Financial Conduct Authority said on 13 October 2026 that two people who worked at financial advice firms have pleaded guilty to fraud after four clients lost £2 million.
Kerry Nelson, the director of Nexus Independent Financial Advisers Limited (Nexus IFA) and Nexus Investment Managers Limited (Nexus IM), and Jacqueline Stephens, the firms’ business operations manager, admitted all charges brought by the FCA at Portsmouth Crown Court on 12 October 2026.
The pair admitted defrauding clients between January 2019 and January 2023 and using false documents as part of the fraud. Nelson also admitted a money laundering offence after money was withdrawn from the firms, which the FCA said she used to fund her extravagant lifestyle.
Fraud by abuse of position is an offence under sections 1 and 4 of the Fraud Act 2006, according to the regulator. Using a false instrument is an offence under section 3 of the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981, and converting or transferring criminal property is an offence under section 327(1) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
Therese Chambers, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: “This was a serious breach of trust. Nelson and Stephens caused significant losses to clients who relied on them. We will continue to act where people exploit clients for their own gain.”
Nelson and Stephens will be sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court on 10 December 2026. The FCA said it will seek confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to deprive Nelson of any financial benefit from her criminal conduct.
The Nexus Firms’ Permissions and 2023 Administration
Nexus IFA and Nexus IM were authorised by the FCA. Nexus IFA held permissions to provide investment, mortgage and pension advice, while Nexus IM held permissions to provide a discretionary fund management service to its clients. Neither firm was permitted to hold or control client money. Those permissions ran from 15 November 2012 and 14 April 2014 respectively until 25 January 2023.
On 25 January 2023, the FCA imposed restrictions on those permissions, stopping both firms from carrying on regulated activity and preventing them from reducing the value of the assets they held. On 26 January 2023, the High Court placed Nexus IFA and Nexus IM into administration and appointed Carl Faulds and Nicola Layland of Leonard Curtis as joint administrators. The administrators subsequently sold both firms to Vintage Wealth Management Limited on 9 March 2023 following FCA consent.
From 2025 Charges to Guilty Pleas
The FCA started criminal proceedings against Nelson and Stephens in February 2025 for alleged fraud, forgery and money laundering. At the time, the regulator said the pair were charged with allegedly defrauding four clients between January 2019 and January 2023, who lost £2 million, and with using false documents in the process of committing the alleged fraud. Nelson was also charged with a further money laundering offence after money was allegedly withdrawn from the firms.
Nelson and Stephens appeared before Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court on 28 February 2025, when Nelson pleaded not guilty to all offences and Stephens gave no indication of plea. The matter was sent to Portsmouth Crown Court, their next appearance was set for 31 March 2025, and both were released on conditional bail.
Chambers, who was joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the time, said: “We allege that over a 4-year period, Ms Nelson and Ms Stephens took advantage of their clients’ trust, forged documents and diverted millions. It is right that these matters are scrutinised by the court.”
The FCA said the case took 24 months from opening to criminal charges, compared with an average of 42 months for cases closed in 2023/24. According to the regulator’s case notes, Nelson was born on 21 December 1972 and Stephens was born on 19 November 1964.
