Love Island and Towie stars charged and could face up to two years in jail-Emily Bashforth-Entertainment – Metro

Several reality stars have been charged with promoting an unauthorised foreign exchange trading scheme (Picture: Dave Benett)

The UK’s financial watchdog is clamping down after Love Island and The Only Way is Essex stars promoted an unauthorised foreign exchange trading scheme on Instagram.

Lauren Goodger and Yazmin Oukhellou of Towie fame are among those facing charges, along with Biggs Chris and Rebecca Gormley.

In total, charges have been brought against nine people from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

It comes in a bid to crack down on ‘finfluencers’, aka those issuing unauthorised communications of financial promotions.

Those currently under fire boast a combined following of 4.5million.

Under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, the illegal social media promotions are punishable by a fine and up to two years in jail.

Rebecca Gormley appears in court next month (Picture: Instagram)

Former Love Islanders Chris, 32, and Gormley, 26, plus Jamie Clayton, 32, and Eva Zapico, 25, face one count of issuing unauthorised communications of financial promotions.

Towie stars Goodger, 37, and Oukhellou, 30, face the same charge, as does former Celebrity Big Brother winner Scott Timlin, 36.

Others caught up in the scandal include influencers Emmanuel Nwanze, 30, and Holly Thompson, 33.

Despite not being authorised to do so, they have been accused of offering advice on buying and selling high-risk investment products called contracts for difference (CFDs) over Instagram between May 2018 and April 2021.

The FCA alleges that Nwanze paid seven reality TV personalities to promote the @holly_fxtrends Instagram account to their followers.

Nwanze and Thompson have also been charged with issuing unauthorised communications of financial promotions.

Love Islander Biggs Chris is among those who could face two years in jail (Picture: Can Nguyen/Shutterstock)

Yazmin Oukhellou is one of nine people with charges against them (Picture: Instagram)

They allegedly offered advice on trading high-risk foreign currency derivatives over Instagram between May 2018 and April 2021.

Additionally, Nwanze has been charged with running an unauthorised investment scheme.

He faces a fine and up to two years in jail for each offence if convicted.

Anyone who believes they have sustained a loss due to the scheme should contact the FCA’s consumer contact centre on 0800 111 6768.

All nine accused will appear before Westminster Magistrates Court on June 13.

Speaking to Money Week, Laura Suter, director of personal finance at AJ Bell, offered insight into what this all means.

‘Too many people blindly trust anything they see on social media, but throw in a well-known celeb or a reality TV star endorsing a product and people are even more likely to trust a post,’ she said.

‘This isn’t a huge problem if you buy some dodgy beauty products or sign up to a duff subscription, but if you put your life savings into an investment because someone from the TV said they made impressive returns, that could be life-changing.’

Lauren Goodger boasts 953,000 followers on Instagram (Picture: Instagram)

Suter has implored the FCA to ramp up its campaign to keep so-called finfluencers in line amid a rise in social media scams.

‘This high-profile case no doubt intended to send a message to other influencers.’

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