A flag-raising ceremony is held at the Ministry of Public Security in Beijing, China, 10 January 2024. (Phoro: EPA-EFE/XINHUA / YIN GANG) The secret agent, who has since been deported, was sponsored by the now-closed foreign exchange brokerage Goldenway Global Investments, the ex-compliance officer said, according to a tribunal ruling. Goldenway, which is controlled by a Hong Kong-based company, faced multiple restrictions by the Financial Conduct Authority before it closed last year and changed its name.
The allegations were detailed in a successful whistleblower suit brought by Bharat Bhagani who said he was fired for blocking the appointment of two directors. Bhagani says he made several complaints to the FCA also detailing his money laundering suspicions over trading profits.
“I was the buffer for unregulated activity,” Bhagani said, according to the ruling, which was published last month. He said he was interviewed by UK authorities over the Chinese spying incident, saying that one of the firm’s directors “requisitioned the visa for the Chinese agent.”
The previously unreported deportation adds to a series of tit-for-tat espionage cases involving the UK and China. This month Beijing said it detained the head of an overseas consulting firm for allegedly spying on the Asian nation for the British government. That followed the arrest of two men in Britain last year in connection with alleged spying for China.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has previously raised with Chinese premier Li Qiang his concerns about interference from Beijing, and there is a hawkish wing of the UK’s governing Conservative Party that regularly warns of the threat posed by China.
A director for Goldenway and the FCA declined to comment. A spokesperson at the Foreign and the Commonwealth & Development Office didn’t reply to an email requesting comment. Bhagani didn’t respond to a message sent via LinkedIn.
Goldenway has since closed its licensed business and changed its name to Leading Globe Technology Ltd., according to a statement on its website.
In the tribunal ruling, judges said Goldenway attempted to challenge some of the allegations, saying that Bhagani couldn’t have reasonably believed in his disclosures to the FCA.
But that was dismissed by judges who said Bhagani “had been given this information by the UK authorities, it was reasonable for him to believe it”.
The judges also backed up a series of other allegations made to the regulator by the former compliance officer. Bhagani blocked two directors that he said couldn’t take up their roles without authorisation from the FCA. He also reported his concerns over the transfers of trading profits from an associated company, saying they were disguised to hide their true origins.
There will be a future hearing to decide the size of the potential payout due to Bhagani.