TWO brothers have been banned from working as insurance brokers after lying to a financial watchdog.

Waqas Siddique of Aston Sterling Insurance Services, based in Church Lane, Leytonstone, was in June 2008 convicted of conspiracy to defraud a bank.

He had earlier lied by saying he was not the subject of a criminal investigation when applying to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for permission to carry out certain functions for the company.

When he was forced to resign on being found guilty, his brother, Faraz, applied to carry out the same functions, but broke the rules by not declaring his brother’s conviction.

Margaret Cole, the FSA’s director of enforcement and financial crime, said: "Aston Sterling was only able to operate as an insurance intermediary because the Siddique brothers lied to the FSA.

“With invaluable assistance from the Metropolitan Police and the Prison Service, we established the full extent of the brothers’ concealment of material information that should have been disclosed to the FSA.

"We have made examples of Waqas and Faraz Siddique to send a warning to firms and individuals: do not lie to the FSA. This case, and others that are due to follow, serve as a clear signal about the consequences of giving anything less than full and frank disclosure of material information to the FSA."

The FSA has also cancelled the permission of Aston Sterling, which specialised in insuring taxis.