HE has just been hit with the biggest individual fine in British legal history - £75 million.
But Stewart Ford says he is "relieved", not fazed.
That is because the 51-year-old Scottish rags-to-riches entrepreneur insists he will never have to pay up - but in turn he wants a pound of flesh from his accusers at the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
"They have pulled the tiger's tail and the tiger is going to bite them back," Mr Ford said of the watchdog. "I was nearly broke but now I am back, bigger, uglier and stronger than ever before."
The FCA formally issued the penalty yesterday - and banned Mr Ford for life from taking part in financial services.
But the entrepreneur and two colleagues from Keydata are appealing the decision to the Upper Tribunal, the special administrative court in London that has the ultimate say on such fines. And he has hit the regulator with a retaliatory civil action for £650m in damages.
The FCA - under a previous guise as the Financial Services Authority (FSA) - forced the shutdown of Keydata in 2009.
The case is complex. But essentially the old FSA found that Mr Ford and colleagues Mark Owen and Peter Johnson had sold so-called "death bonds" as qualifying for tax-free Individual Savings Accounts even though they allegedly knew this was not the case.
They shut Keydata down, they said, because it could not cover the tax bills that should have been paid on the bonds, which are derivatives from the second-hand life insurance policies of elderly Americans.
On Monday the now FCA issued a 63-page decision notice on Mr Ford and his colleagues Mr Owen and Mr Johnson, who it fined respectively £4m and £200,000.
The watchdog said the men "failed to act with integrity and also misled the then FSA on a number of occasions in relation to the performance of the investment products".
Specifically, the FCA said that the three men allowed the sale of death bonds by a company called Lifemark despite knowing they did not comply with ISA regulations.
The regulator also said Mr Ford "deliberately concealed problems" with the portfolio of bonds from another company, SLS. Keydata traded some £475m in the products.
Mr Ford, speaking to The Herald, denied the findings. He believes, that, along with Keydata investors, that he is a wronged party.
Specifically, he blames an SLS shareholder called David Elias, a one-time fugitive from British justice who is now believed to be dead, his ashes spread in the Malaysian jungle.
Mr Ford said: "I am the victim of a crime and I am the victim of a regulatory stitch-up.
"The old FCA turned on Keydata because they were under a lot of pressure during the financial crash and they were trying to look tough.
"Well, they did a terrible job. Keydata was a well-managed, profitable company that employed 140 people."
Mr Ford declined to say if he could meet a £75m fine if forced to do so.
He added: "The £75m fine figure is meaningless unless the Upper Tribunal decides to uphold it. Do you think they would get £75m? I think not."
Mr Ford was brought up in an Edinburgh children's home, Redhall House. He insists this schooling makes him tough for the FCA to deal with.
"I made a lot of money when it was unfashionable to do so," he said. "My rags-to-riches story is an example of what you can do with your life. I was brought up in a children's home. I could have gone a good way or I could have gone a bad way. I went to the good way.
"My entire life I have struggled with bullies. So the FCA have never met somebody like me. I am an inconvenient hurdle for them. This is my life. But it is just their jobs."
Mr Ford said he continues to spend some time in Scotland. He is unable to work. "Life is difficult," he said. But he and his family did make substantial sums during his Keydata days, according to the FCA.
The watchdog said: "Mr Ford and trusts set up for the benefit of his family received some £72.4m in fees and commissions on sales of the Lifemark products."
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