Reality stars including Love Island's Eva Zapico, TOWIE's Lauren Goodger and Geordie Shore's Scott Timlin have appeared in court today charged with being paid to promote risky investments on Instagram.
Nine influencers have been charged by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in relation to an unauthorised foreign exchange trading scheme promoted on social media.
The FCA has alleged that Emmanuel Nwanze, 30, and Holly Thompson, 34, used an Instagram account, @holly-fx trends, to provide advice on buying and selling contracts for difference (CFDs) when they were not authorised to do so.
It said CFDs were high-risk investments, with 80% of customers who invest in them losing money.
The watchdog also alleges that Nwanze paid Towie's Lauren Goodger, 37; and Yazmin Oukhellou, 30; Love Island's Biggs Chris, 32; Jamie Clayton, 32; Rebecca Gormley, 26; and Eva Zapico, 25; and Geordie Shore's Scott Timlin to promote the account to their 4.5 million Instagram followers.
Nwanze, Thompson, Chris, Clayton, Goodger, Gormley, Oukhellou, Timlin and Zapico each face one count of issuing unauthorised communications of financial promotions.
Nwanze also faces one count of breaching a general prohibition under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, which prohibits people from carrying out regulated activities in the UK unless they are authorised to do so.
TV reality star Yazmin Oukhellou (right) arrives at Westminster Magistrates' Court, charged with plugging unauthorised investments on social media
TV reality star Eva Zapico outside Westminster Magistrates' Court, charged with plugging unauthorised investments on social media
Influencer Yazmin Oukhellou (pictured) in her bikini
Scott Timlin, better known as Scotty T (pictured)
Eva Zapico (pictured)
Yazmin Oukhellou arrives at Westminster Magistrates' Court dressed in black
TV reality star Yazmin Oukhellou (right) arrives at Westminster Magistrates' Court
TV reality star Eva Zapico (left) leaves Westminster Magistrates' Court,
TOWIE star Lauren Goodger has been accused of being paid to promote risk investments to their millions of Instagram followers
TV reality star Yazmin Oukhellou arrives at Westminster Magistrates' Court
Timlin appeared in person at Westminster Magistrates' Court alongside Oukhellou, Nwanze and Zapico.
Timlin pleaded not guilty to one count of unauthorised communications of financial promotions. Nwanze also pleaded not guilty to the same charge, as well as one count of breaching the General Prohibition.
Thompson, who appeared via video link alongside Goodger, pleaded not guilty to one count of unauthorised communications of financial promotions.
The remaining defendants provided no indication of their pleas.
Their combined Instagram followers totalled 4.5 million and they could face up to two years in prison each is convicted.
A trial preparation hearing has been set for July 11 at Southwark Crown Court and nine defendants have been granted unconditional bail until this date.
The FCA says Emmanuel Nwanze, 30, and 33-year-old Holly Thompson offered advice on buying and selling high-risk contracts for difference (CFDs) on Instagram between May 2018 and April 2021 despite not being authorised to do so.
And the watchdog alleges Nwanze then paid Chris, Clayton, Goodger, Rebecca Gormley, Oukhellou, Timlin and Zapico to promote the Instagram account to their millions of followers.
CFDs are described by the FCA as a 'high-risk investment product used to bet on the price of an asset'. In this case it was a bet on foreign currencies.
Nwanze, 30, has been charged with running an unauthorised investment scheme and issuing unlawful financial promotions.
Thompson, 32-year-old Chris, Clayton, 32, 37-year-old Goodger, Gormley, 26, 30-year-old Oukhellou, Timlin, 36, and 25-year-old Zapico each face one count of issuing unauthorised communications of financial promotions.
Nwanze has been charged with running an unauthorised investment scheme and issuing unauthorised financial promotions. which is also punishable by a fine and a jail sentence of up to two years.
Lauren Goodger rose to fame in 2010 when she appeared on ITV's Reality TV show The Only Way is Essex until 2012, making brief returns to the series in 2015 and 2016.
TV reality star Emmanuel Nwanze (centre) arrives at Westminster Magistrates' Court
Scott Timlin arrives at Westminster Magistrates' Court today along with eight other influences charged
TV reality star Emmanuel Nwanze arrives at Westminster Magistrates' Court
TV reality star Scott Timlin arrives at Westminster Magistrates' Court, charged with plugging unauthorised investments on social media
TV reality star Scott Timlin leaves Westminster Magistrates' Court, charged with plugging unauthorised investments on social media
TV reality star Emmanuel Nwanze (right) arrives at Westminster Magistrates' Court
TV reality star Scott Timlin arrives at Westminster Magistrates' Cour
The first two series focused on Goodger's relationship with ex-boyfriend Mark Wright, now married to actress Michelle Keegan.
In the memorable season two finale, she dumped Wright and pushed him into a swimming pool. The pair had been dating since they were 15-years-old.
Goodger, originally from Hackney, London, took part in Celebrity Big Brother in 2014 and Dancing on Ice in 2013, but was eliminated in week two.
Biggs Chris was an 'Islander' on the popular ITV series Love Island in 2020.
Last year it was revealed he had welcomed a baby boy with his ex-girlfriend Summer Hawkins.
The couple were first linked in 2021 and announced their pregnancy news in June that same year, two years after they had begun dating.
However, the pair parted ways in October, weeks before Summer was due to give birth.
Chris has 155,000 followers on Instagram and is a property investor, according to his biography.
Geordie Shore's Scott Timlin is also accused of promoting an account which encouraged people to take up high-risk contracts for difference (CFDs) on Instagram
Holly Thompson, 33, posts on Instagram using the account name Holly Zucchero
TOWIE reality star Lauren Goodger has 953,000 followers on Instagram
Also facing charges from the Financial Conduct Authority are Biggs Chris and Rebecca Gormley, seen together here at the BEDSA Awards at the Hilton on Park Lane in March 2020
Love Island contestant Biggs Chris, puctured here at the British Ethnic Diversity Sports Awards in London in March 2020, is also facing legal action from the City watchdog
Biggs Chris' former girlfriend Rebecca Gormley, who also appeared on season six of Love Island, is also facing charges from the FCA.
Rebecca entered the Love Island villa on Day 9 and was 'dumped' from the island on Day 30.
Rebecca worked part-time as a model and carer before entering the villa and won Miss Newcastle in 2018.
In 2022, Rebecca moved to Dubai where she works in property investment.
Scott Timlin, also known as Scotty T, is best known for appearing in Geordie Shore from 2012 to 2019 and winning Celebrity Big Brother in 2016.
In 2015, Timlin performed with the male stripping troupe Dreamboys, doing guest appearances alongside fellow Geordie Shore cast member Gaz Beadle.
Yazmin Oukhellou shot to fame in 2017 after joining the TOWIE cast.
Before that, she studied Media Studies at Newcastle University and founded her own swimwear brand in 2016. She has since trained and worked as a real estate agent in Dubai.
Eva Zapico, pictured attending a performance of the musical Dreamgirls at the New Wimbledon Theatre in May 2022, has also come under the City watchdog's scrutiny
Also facing FCA charges are Jamie Clayton and Rebecca Gormley, who both appeared on reality show Love Island in 2020
The FCA has also announced a charge against TOWIE cast member Yazmin Oukhellou
In 2022, Yazmin was involved in a horror car crash in Turkey and was left in a critical state in hospital. She has since made a full recovery.
Sadly, her fellow TOWIE cast member and then boyfriend Jake McLean died in the accident.
The FCA has previously said that 80 per cent of customers lose money when investing in CFDs.
They are often 'highly leveraged' which means they use debt to try and boost returns, the FCA said - but that can result in investors losing more money than they invested.
In the UK, the regulator has imposed restrictions on how CFDs and similar products can be sold and marketed to retail customers.
The FCA asked anyone who believed they had suffered a loss due to the scheme to contact its consumer contact centre.
Goodger recently rejoined the long-running series TOWIE for filming more than a decade after she was last a full-time cast member.
Earlier this week she was seen hitting the gym for a gruelling workout after revealing in an interview how she regrets ever having cosmetic surgery.
In an interview with Closer she admitted: 'I wish I'd never had anything, I want it all out. My bum and boobs make me look bigger and cause me pain. I want to reverse it all and go back to natural.'
