4 March 2011 Last updated at 10:31 ET

City financier Nicholas Levene facing fraud charges

Nicholas Levene is charged with 16 offences relating to an alleged investment fraud

City financier Nicholas Levene has been charged with 16 offences relating to an alleged investment fraud.

The charges follow a 15-month investigation by the Serious Fraud Office and City of London Police.

Mr Levene, 46, of High Barnet, north London, who was released on conditional bail, denies the allegations.

Bookmaker IG Index and Stagecoach transport tycoons Brian Souter and Ann Gloag are among those reported to have made claims against Mr Levene.

He faces 11 charges of fraud by misrepresentation, two of possession of an article for use in fraud, two of money laundering and one of false accounting.

Mr Levene was bailed after being charged at Snow Hill police station in London, and will appear before City of London magistrates on 11 March.

The derivatives expert worked for MG Equity Partners, based in Berkeley Square, central London.

His lawyer Philip Smith said: "These are simply allegations at the moment and they are strenuously denied."

Mr Levene resigned from the board of Leyton Orient FC, where he was vice-chairman, in 2009 after the fraud allegations first came to light.