Tag: Investment Scam

  • POST OFFICE V LIFE OFFICE

    POST OFFICE V LIFE OFFICE

    The Post Office scandal is routinely referred to as being the worst betrayal of justice in British history. It is hard to argue that there could be anything worse than what the liars and fraudsters at Post Office Limited and Fujitsu (and their various lawyers) did to hundreds of innocent sub postmasters. But the Life Offices – including Utmost International – and many of the brokers with whom they have terms of business – certainly come a close second.

    The Post Office scam was led by Paula Vennells – an ordained Anglican Minister. She was CEO from 2012 to 2019. It is hard to figure out which bit of the Ten Commandments she omitted to read, especially “Thou shalt not steal” and “Thou shalt not bear false witness”.

    Listening to the testimonies in the Post Office Horizon Enquiry led by Sir Wyn Williams, it is clear there is a sub-group of human beings who have little right to call themselves “human”. This includes the bosses at Post Office Limited and Fujitsu (as well as their various lawyers) who knowingly sent hundreds of innocent victims to prison (including a pregnant woman). Having extorted money from their victims to repay the “shortages” falsely reported by the Horizon software, the Post Office bosses then paid themselves whopping bonuses.

    There is a great deal of information, background and commentary on the Post Office scandal – including Nick Wallis’ excellent book “The Great Post Office Cover Up“; Computer Weekly’s excellent, comprehensive coverage; the British government’s own report; and even a television docudrama which reconstructed the appalling events in Mr. Bates vs The Post Office.

    The Post Office/Fujitsu scandal was the subject of a public enquiry which exposed the appalling events and profound negligence and criminality by Post Office and Fujitsu bosses and staff. Thanks to the exceptional diligence of the barristers who represented the victims and expertly dragged the truths, half truths and lies out of the perpetrators, the public can finally see the truth.

    What remains to be seen, however, is what compensation the victims of the Post Office and Fujitsu fraud will receive. Hundreds of sub postmasters were wrongly convicted of false accounting and theft, and in numerous cases made to pay back the money they had never stolen, and often sent to prison. Hundreds of lives were ruined and some victims committed suicide because of the shame of being viewed in their close-knit communities as guilty of theft and false accounting. Taking into account the wider interests of the families of the victims, however, this atrocity has ruined thousands of lives.

    The Post Office has, reportedly, spent hundreds of millions on legal fees – to defend its position, deny responsibility and culpability, and delay paying out compensation to its victims. Figures vary, but it is clear the Post Office has spent way more on its own fees than it would have done had it simply paid fair compensation to its victims.

    While the Post Office/Fujitsu enquiry is now complete, the civil litigation against the Life Offices is currently going through the Isle of Man courts. And, like the Post Office, the Life Offices are throwing millions of pounds at their lawyers to try to evade paying their victims the redress they deserve.

    There are numerous similarities and differences between the Post Office scandal and the Life Office scandal (Utmost International, SEB, RL360, Investors Trust etc). The bosses at the Post Office and Fujitsu had a limited, finite pool of victims in the UK – whereas the Life Offices had – and still have – an unlimited pool of victims globally. Plus, the Life Offices did not falsely prosecute their victims or send them to prison. But they still ruined their lives nonetheless.

    Let’s compare some of the tragic similarities between both scandals:

    The Post Office was headed up by an ordained Anglican minister (Paul Vennells). She should have known better.Quilter (Old Mutual) (leading player in the Life Office scandal) was headed up by a former Isle of Man regulator (Peter Kenny). He should have known better.
    The Post Office knew that Fujitsu’s “Horizon” accounting software was full of bugs and could not be relied upon. Horizon would inevitably report false statistics and financials.The Life Offices knew many assets offered on their investment platforms were high-risk, high-commission and bound to fail. These investments would inevitably cause severe losses.
    Fujitsu is a key “strategic supplier” to the UK government, making £100m a year from this work, and has won 150 new contracts worth £2.04bn since the 2019 court ruling that Fujitsu’s Horizon IT system caused accounting errors that were blamed on the sub-postmasters. The Life Offices (Utmost, RL360, Hansard etc) are still to this day used extensively by virtually all offshore brokers and QROPS providers. Posting eye-watering profits and AUM, the Life Offices continue to flourish but offer to pay no compensation to their victims.
    Fujitsu’s clients for these lucrative contracts include the Home Office, HMRC, the Foreign Office, the MoD, and the DWP. Plus the £2.4bn lifetime contract Fujitsu still has with the Post Office for the Horizon system.

    		Life Offices continue to provide unnecessary insurance bonds for virtually the entire offshore financial services market. These products serve only to pay undisclosed commissions to the brokers and provide no benefit to the investors.
    Fujitsu and The Post Office have jointly caused millions of pounds’ worth of financial losses and damage to hundreds of sub postmasters. Still only pitifully small amounts of compensation have been paid to the victims. Life Offices have caused many hundreds of millions of pounds’ worth of financial losses to thousands of investors. Still no compensation has been paid or received.
    The Post Office continues to pay a herd of lawyers millions of pounds to fight against paying just compensation to the sub postmasters who were victims of this scandalous crisis.Life Offices Utmost International and Friends Provident are paying lawyers in the IoM to fight against paying compensation to the victims of investment fraud and undisclosed commissions.

    WHICH IS WORSE? THE POST OFFICE SCANDAL OR THE LIFE OFFICE SCANDAL?

    It really is hard to say. In both cases, thousands of people’s lives have been ruined. Marriages have been destroyed, homes and businesses lost and unnecessary deaths have occurred. The Post Office (and Fujitsu) had a limited and finite pool of victims (only the sub postmasters and their families in the UK) – whereas the Life Offices have an infinite pool of victims across the globe. And this scandal continues to this very day – entirely unsanctioned.

    Save for the outstanding justice and compensation due to the sub postmasters, and the impending criminal proceedings against those responsible at The Post Office and Fujitsu (and possibly some of the lawyers who helped cover up their fraud), this matter is over bar the shouting. By contrast, the Life Offices are continuing full blast with the same business model which has destroyed countless lives, families, marriages and life savings.

    The Post Office/Fujitsu victims will still have to wait many years for their rightful compensation – while the lawyers continue to get rich and the government prevaricates feebly. There are faint signs that Paula Vennells and Nick Read may yet serve time behind bars. But at least something is being done, and there is a legal process in place. However, the Isle of Man and Irish governments and regulators have shown zero interest in the fraud committed and facilitated by the Life Offices.

  • Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund Judgement

    Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund Judgement

    High Court Rules in Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund Case against James Hadley and associates.

    In a recent High Court judgment, Judge Mr. Nicholas Thompsell found that the Cayman-Islands based Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund (TMAF) was involved in an illegal conspiracy to “extract commissions from the investments.” The defendants, who were also behind the 2013 Store First pension investment scam, were found guilty of acting together to establish TMAF and deceive investors.

    The claimant, Doran & Minehane, the liquidator of TMAF, argued that the investments were uncommercial transactions, potentially fictitious, or involved undisclosed self-dealing benefiting the conspirators. The investments were designed to exploit and misappropriate pension funds for the defendants’ benefit.

    The judge determined a deliberate intention to harm TMAF, stating that the arrangements aimed to generate commissions for the conspirators at the fund’s expense. The accused faced a range of serious accusations, including breach of financial services regulation, fiduciary duties, and involvement in unlawful means conspiracy.

    The victims, who suffered significant losses due to these schemes, have our sympathy. The court’s judgment establishes solid principles of liability, which may lead to a faster receipt of claimed monies and reduced legal costs for the defendants.

    For the full judgment, click here: High Court Rules in Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund Case against James Hadley and associates.

    The FSCS is now accepting claims for compensation of up to £85,000 for victims of the Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund investment scam. James Hadley’s advisory firm – Nationwide Benefit Consultants – (which later changed its name to The Pension Reporter) had been an agent of FCA-regulated Joseph Oliver.

    This is a helpful lesson for victims and potential victims of pension and investment scams. The FSCS compensation payments will be funded by levies on the decent, qualified and ethical IFAs who don’t operate scams. Justice and education combined in one bitter pill.

  • Goodbye Bond Review

    Goodbye Bond Review

    Brev at Bond Review has been doing the FCA’s job for it for more than four years. He (or she) has warned the public on the excellent Bond Review blog about the dangers of investment scams in the form of “bonds”. While the FCA have sat around doing little of any use – except keeping the cleaners busy in the men’s toilets – Brev has performed the function of an essential lighthouse for potential victims.

    Sadly, Brev has announced his (or her) retirement. Having saved potentially thousands of victims from financial ruin, we all wish this magnificent keyboard warrior well. Thank you from all of us who care about exposing investment scams in the face of the FCA’s sickening failure to prevent them.

    Bond Review Logo
    BondReview.co.uk

    Goodbye – from Brev at Bond Review

    Regular readers will probably have noticed that the output of Bond Review has continued to drop recently.

    In the first year of Bond Review I reviewed over 60 investment schemes that were being promoted to the public; in the past 12 months I’ve reviewed a third of that number.

    Bond Review comments on FCA ignorance of minibond scams
    FCA has repeatedly ignored minibond warnings & complaints for years

    Although there are still far too many high risk investment schemes being promoted with impunity to the general public by search engines and social media, there are signs that the tide has lessened somewhat. When Bond Review was founded, there was a constant stream of people signing up for consumer finance forums asking whether London Capital and Finance was a safe investment. That is no longer the case, at least not to nearly the same extent.

    In 2017 minibonds were mostly ignored by the press other than very occasional articles warning investors of the risks (and sometimes promoting them). They were also, as covered here extensively, completely ignored by the FCA. That is certainly no longer the case, with the collapse of London Capital and Finance (along with lesser schemes) hitting the mainstream press and the subject of Parliamentary enquiries.

    But the main reason I am bringing the blog to a close is that I simply don’t have the time any more. Maintaining the trickle of bi-weekly articles (with regular lapses) has often meant staying up past midnight (and drinking too much wine) simply because it was the only hour in the day available. I have a full-time job, a family, a sports club to get back up off the ground after being shut down during the pandemic, and the blog. Something has to give.

    Bond Review has saved investors millions
    Bond Review has saved investors millions

    I remain proud of what Bond Review has achieved. I know for a fact that as a result of my reviews, millions of pounds whose owners could not afford to lose them have been saved from high-risk investment schemes which subsequently collapsed. I know this because the people that ran them told me so in the course of their legal threats.

    All I have done for three and a half years is to post the facts, and nothing but the facts, about the risks of unregulated investments, so that investors can make their own minds up. At times this meant my coverage was open to charges of being “anodyne” or “mealy-mouthed”, but it was sticking to what was verifiable and in the public domain that allowed me to stand behind my coverage for this long.

    I considered going public with my identity but have nothing to gain from doing so. At least three different people have been identified as Brev by various idiots posting spam online. None of them are me.
    Bond Review remains anonymous
    Brev remains anonymous

    I originally called this article “Indefinite hiatus” but then I remembered how annoying it was when I was reading webcomics twenty years ago and authors would forever be going on “hiatuses” (hiati?) that left you forever wondering whether they’d come back. So no hiatus, just an unambiguous goodbye, and an end to three and a half years that has often been stressful, draining, fascinating, heartbreaking and (emotionally) rewarding in equal measure.

    Thanks to all the readers who have read this far. In the early weeks of writing Bond Review I got excited whenever my pageview count went up by 1 (and even more excited when it wasn’t from me). For many weeks posting articles felt like shouting at the bins. The stats, comments and messages of support all helped keep me going for as long as I have.

    Oz, writer behind MLM
    Oz, writer of Behind MLM

    A special thanks to everyone who donated. If anyone feels they have been shortchanged by the sudden cancellation, get in touch via the Contact link above and I will happily refund any previous donations to their source. The handful of recurring donations to Bond Review have been cancelled at my end.

    A final credit goes to Oz, the writer behind the website BehindMLM.com, which was a huge inspiration for Bond Review. If there are any readers of both they will have noticed a few similarities of style which are partly homage and partly lack of imagination on my part. It showed that it was possible to shine a light on an under-covered part of the financial world and keep it going in the teeth of concerted and relentless opposition. How Oz has kept it going for a decade (with a much higher output than I ever had) is beyond me.

    Comments on all articles will be closed in a week on June 1st. I will continue to pay the hosting bill to keep Bond Review up for another year. It will then close for good on 25 May 2022.

    I can continue to be contacted via the contact link here.

    All of the investment-scam bonds that Bond Review has blogged about
    All of the investment-scam bonds that Bond Review has blogged about

    Have you thrown in the towel due to legal action?

    When I started Bond Review I knew I needed to be prepared to stand up for myself in court, or there was no point in writing articles on this subject in the first place. A total of 13 different investment schemes have made legal threats to me. None of them have gone to court. Until today I had (unless memory fails me) withdrawn one solitary article from publication: a report on Blackmore Bonds‘ brief sponsorship of the Kent Police rugby team.

    So any suggestion that I have been intimidated into shutting down the blog is a perfectly reasonable guess but incorrect.

    Nor have I been paid off. I have never (despite offers) accepted money to remove any article from Bond Review, and never will.

    A number of articles have been pulled from view today because keeping them up for another year is not worth the time and money it would require. This should not be misinterpreted as an admission that anything in them was false. I cannot comment further. There are special circumstances and anyone who thinks I might be persuaded to pull other articles for no reason (before the website closes) should save their breath.

    FCA shit on the floor

    Brev has been careful not to lay too much overt criticism at the door of the FCA. This may have been a conscious effort not to divert too much attention away from the fraudulent, risky bond investment itself. Or it may have been in order to focus attention on the necessity to educate consumers. Whatever the real purpose, Brev pulled no punches in the blog which did openly slam the FCA’s disgusting culture of laziness, slovenliness and negligence in this powerful blog: “FCA officials shit on the floor, as well as the bed“.

    Bye bye Brev x 😘

  • Paul Feeney of Quilter and the Marshmallow Regulator

    Paul Feeney of Quilter and the Marshmallow Regulator

    One of my all-time favourite comedy lines is Greg Davies describing his middle-aged love life as “like trying to stuff a marshmallow up a cat’s arse”. My second-favourite comedy line is “Andrew Bailey has been such a failure at the FCA, that we’re going to put him in charge of the Bank of England”. My third favourite is “the FCA’s practitioner panel is going to be headed up by Paul Feeney of Quilter”.

    Nothing funny about the FCA's failures or Quilter's destruction of pensions.

    With the exception of Greg Davies’ somewhat risqué pun, the other two are both true and sickeningly serious.

    Victims of the FCA’s multiple failures to take action (despite urgent warnings by courageous whistleblowers) will be horrified at Bailey’s elevation to the “top job” as his reward for betraying so many thousands of investors.

    Victims of Quilter (previously Old Mutual International and Skandia) will be appalled that such a pariah of financial services can be held up to be an example to financial services practitioners.

    It might, of course, be that I am mistaken – and that Feeney is being brought in as an example of how financial services should NOT be run, and how financial advice should NOT be provided.

    But, sadly, I think the “old boys’ network” has worked its magic and the FCA elite have closed ranks with Quilter’s elite, to dominate control over pension and investment scams. It is clear that neither the so-called “City Watchdog” nor the insurance giant – specialising in pointless insurance bonds and toxic investments – want to see financial services cleaned up.

    If any financial services consumer is unclear about the FCA’s multiple failures in the matter of the collapsed London Capital & Finance “bond”, they only need to read Bond Review’s piece on the Dame Gloster report. Along with “The FCA told potential investors that LCF was not a fraud, and FSCS protected“, “the FCA took no follow-up action to verify that all LCF’s investors qualified as high-net-worth and sophisticated” and “The FCA consistently treated LCF’s unregulated bonds as not its problem“, Dame Gloster pulls no punches when she outlines the FCA’s many disgraceful and negligent failures.

    From Andrew Bailey at the top, to the members of FCA staff who defecated on the men’s bathroom floor at the bottom, Dame Gloster’s report demonstrates that the FCA simply doesn’t understand pension and investment scams. Apparently, an FCA supervisor had admitted that “there is little training on how to identify financial crime within the FCA’s Supervision division”.

    Put simply, if the FCA can’t keep its own bathrooms clean, how on earth can it help clean up the crap in the world of financial fraud?

    The FCA clearly does not understand that unregulated, high-risk, toxic investments are simply not suitable for ordinary retail investors. And this is why the appointment of Quilter’s Paul Feeney is so anomalous: Quilter has for years specialised in peddling these kinds of high-risk investments to low-risk investors. The graveyards of thousands of Quilter victims’ investment portfolios is littered with the rotting remains of many funds and structured notes.

    A regulator’s “Practitioner’s Panel” should ideally be headed up by someone who understands how financial services firms should be run; someone who eschews the fraudulent and disloyal practices of the “cowboys” and “chiringuitos”; someone who has shown the will to outlaw illegally-sold insurance bonds whose sole purpose is to make thousands of victims poor and dozens of scammers rich.

    Instead, the FCA’s panel is going to be under the control of someone who has actively promoted high-risk investments to low-risk investors.

    So, it would seem there is no hope that the FCA will ever be reformed – just as there is no hope that the top dogs at Quilter will ever brought to justice for facilitating so much financial crime. The two rogue organisations are going to jog along cosily, side by side, with no remorse for their own failures and culpability.

    It is hard for pension and investment scam victims to comprehend the apathy towards reform of regulation in the UK. Experts such as Henry Tapper, Mick McAteer, Martin Hague, Paul Carlier and Gina Miller have long banged the “reform” drum. But this has largely fallen on deaf ears. And, of course, Dame Gloster’s report will be largely ignored.

    This is all cronyism at its worst. And shows that neither the Treasury nor Parliament truly understand what is so very wrong with financial services in the UK (and also offshore). Select Committees, such as the Work and Pensions one chaired by Stephen Timms, can debate all day long – but until the FCA is scrapped and rogue “wealth” and “life” (in reality, poverty and death) companies like Quilter are shut down, nothing will change.

    Dame Gloster has written about the “wickedness” of the FCA’s failures to protect the public (from investment scams such as London Capital & Finance). Part of this evil is the failure to recognise the dangers of unlicensed scammers – the motley assortment of unlicensed “introducers” – both onshore and offshore. But, of course, this is what Quilter’s business is based on – so the appointment of Quilter’s Paul Feeney will only protect and nurture this branch of financial crime.

    Quilter has for many years given terms of business to assorted scammers, prostitutes, murderers, fraudsters and conmen (and women). With the acceptance of thousands of investment instructions from these unruly hordes of low-life, unlicensed, unqualified criminals, Quilter has built up a successful and profitable business based on ruining innocent victims’ lives (and killing some of them in the process).

    Dame Gloster’s excellent, comprehensive and severely damning report provides almost 500 pages of details of the FCA’s disgraceful failings.

    But if you haven’t got time to read it, just read FT Adviser’s one-page article on “Quilter boss Feeney to head up FCA panel”. Then zoom down to the bit that says: “Paul has served on the panel for a number of years and appreciates the important role it plays in ensuring our regulation is targeted and effective.”

    Then go and have a good cry. And a packet of marshmallows.

  • International Adviser Awards

    International Adviser Awards

    International Adviser Awards create buzz around Quilter’s, FPI’s and RL360’s facilitation of investment fraud and scams.

    I am deeply flattered that International Adviser has invited me to enter for this year’s “Best Practice Adviser Awards”.  The invitation was sitting – sparkling like a princess – in my inbox this morning.  So, how could I refuse?

    Pension Life is not, of course, an advisory firm.  But I am sure International Adviser can think of a separate category for a firm which works towards bringing rogue “advisers” (in reality commission-hungry salesmen) and death bond providers to justice for the many scams they carry out and facilitate.

    International Adviser’s awards are, apparently, “designed to recognise financial advisers within the industry that are beacons of excellence in promoting best practice”. 

    No doubt this also means acknowledging those which are beacons of fraud.  Until the “chiringuitos” of the financial services world are shut down and jailed, best practice will always be held back.

    Spain certainly leads the field internationally (which isn’t exactly difficult) when it comes to warning about the very types of scammers which have traditionally had terms of business with Quilter, FPI, RL360, SEB and Generali: the “death bond salesmen” who have destroyed millions of pounds’ worth of pensions and life savings.

    International Adviser gives four reasons for entering the Best Practice Adviser Awards 2020 competition:

    1. Highlight the success of teams within your business
    2. Promote the key strengths that set your firm apart from the rest
    3. Gain recognition within your industry for excellence in best practice
    4. Use the winner’s logo

    As International Adviser informs me that the total value of this “amazing” package is over £10k, I thought I would give it a go – what have I got to lose?!  Here are my responses to the above four points:

    1. The teams within my business have got eight scammers in court on criminal charges of fraud and forgery. These scammers were illegally selling Quilter (OMI/Skandia) insurance bonds – as well as SEB and Generali.  Plus we’ve got nearly thirty more lined up ready for the criminal and civil courts in multiple jurisdictions in Europe and the UK.  All these scammers were putting cautious investors into high-risk, toxic investments offered by the insurance companies.
    2. Promoting strengths that set Pension Life apart from “the rest” is slightly tricky because the only other firm that I know of which does anything similar is Niall Coburn’s firm – Coburn Corporate Intelligence.  As published by International Adviser on 2.6.2020, Coburn is using Daniel Spendlove of law firm Signature Litigation to sue Quilter (aka Skandia, OMI, TitsRUs) and FPI (now owned by RL360) for millions of pounds’ worth of investment losses caused to thousands of investors.
    3. Gaining recognition for excellence will, of course, be very welcome – especially when a bunch of chiringuitos and overpaid executives at the death offices are behind bars.
    4. I’m already experimenting with how my letterhead will look with the winner’s logo on it.  I think the 30-second video will definitely feature Peter Kenny and David Kneesup in orange suits, and the daily bulletins will advertise the banning of commission-laden insurance bonds.

    I assume my only competition will be the surfing, polo-playing Coburn who describes himself as “being committed to lending his critical thinking and expertise to complex regulatory, compliance and due diligence matters”.

    Coburn advertises himself as being B.A. LL.B, LL.M, Dip. Bus. Admin. I assume part of the above means he can swim and drive a bus. No doubt Signature Litigation find those qualities helpful.

    Even if I don’t win International Adviser’s prestigious award, I am hoping my entry will foster a warm and fuzzy friendship with International Adviser Editor Kirsten Hastings. Ideally, she and I can sit together at the trial of Quilter International/FPI/RL360. We can talk girlie stuff and I can teach her how to write shorthand during the boring bits.

    Not entirely sure where the trial will be held, but it had better be a venue as big as Wembley Stadium to accommodate the inevitable large crowd which will want to attend. This will include thousands of victims of Quilter International, FPI International and RL360. Many of these victims have lost their life savings, so they will no doubt want to be present to see the likes of Peter Kenny, Steve Braudo, Paul Feeney, Steve Weston and David Kneesup brought to justice.

    I predict that the death offices will try to hang the chiringuitos out to dry and blame the failed investments on their “inappropriate advice”. This is another reason why the courtroom will need to be big enough to accommodate a huge number of people: scammers from across the globe will need to be wheeled in to testify. The death offices will claim that all they did was make the bombs; it was the scammers who hurled them into the crowds of victims.

    The court may want to ask the death offices why on earth they gave terms of business to so many unqualified, unlicensed spivs.

    Any sober judge will struggle to understand why Quilter, FPI and RL360 accepted so many dealing instructions from barely literate con men (and women) – including a convicted murderer, several psychopaths, a long line of coke-snorting confidence tricksters/forgers, an alcoholic bar manager, several well-known serial scammers (including Stephen Ward) and a prostitute.

    Even if Pension Life doesn’t win the coveted International Adviser award, I guess we’re likely to come second in our category. I wonder what the prize will be – lunch with Peter Kenny perhaps?

  • CWM Criminal Case and Business Plan

    CWM Criminal Case and Business Plan

    As we reach the halfway point in the criminal trial of the Continental Wealth Management and Premier Pension Solutions companies, I regret I am unable to give a detailed update on the case at this point. The first half of the eight defendants have been cross examined by the judge’s lawyer, and the second batch of four further defendants are due to be cross examined on 7th April 2020 (in the Denia Court of First Instruction).

    This, of course, assumes there is no disruption to the proceedings caused by the Corona virus lockdown.

    Dean Stogsdill and Neil Hathaway of CWM leaving the Denia Criminal Court on 25th February 2020 after being cross examined on charges of fraud, disloyal administration and falsification of commercial documents.
    Dean Stogsdill and Neil Hathaway of CWM leaving the Denia Criminal Court on 25th February 2020 after being cross examined on charges of fraud, disloyal administration and falsification of commercial documents.

    The first “batch” consisted of Patrick Kirby – Darren Kirby’s brother – who ran the CWM cold calling operation which sent so many hundreds of victims to their doom; Anthony Downs; Dean Stogsdill and Neil Hathaway who had various different titles at different times – ranging from Managing Director to Operations Director to Investment Director.

    I can’t comment on the transcripts of the questions and answers on 24th and 25th February, and won’t be able to publish the full details of all cross examinations until all the defendants have appeared before the judge. The defendants on 7th April will be:

    • Jody Smart – sole director and shareholder who paid herself over 1 million Euros in the last two years of the life of CWM – the money being paid into her two other businesses: property company Mercurio and fashion design company Jody Bell. In addition, she also paid money into her Grant A Wish “charity” and drew a hefty salary.
    • Paul Clarke – founder of the original CWM company in partnership with Darren Kirby; Clarke left a year later to run AES International Spain, where he scammed more victims out of their life savings with expensive, unnecessary, illegally-sold insurance bonds, and high-risk structured notes – all sold for the fat commissions (despite the even fatter losses suffered by the victims). He also advised two victims to go into Stephen Ward’s Ark scam. Clarke now runs a firm called Roebuck Wealth and has scrubbed the internet of all trace of his history.
    • Darren Kirby – founder along with Clarke and ultimate controller of the whole CWM operation throughout. Kirby made every attempt to divest himself of all legal responsibility for CWM. He gave away his shares in the company to his business/civil partner Jody Smart, and some of his employees. However, all the defendants (as well as victims) are bound to confirm Darren Kirby was the ultimate boss and controlling mind of the company.
    • Stephen Ward – owner of Premier Pension Solutions SL. He was the person who signed off all the CWM clients’ pension transfers (for a fat fee). He knowingly condemned all pension holders whose transfers he signed off to inevitable partial or total loss. He was fully aware of CWM’s modus operandi as he himself used a similar investment model to that of CWM (and had taught them how to do it). Ward was routinely investing his own clients’ funds in a toxic, disloyal and irresponsible manner which was as bad – and sometimes even worse – than in the CWM cases.

    As soon as I can publish the cross examination transcripts and further directions, I will do so.

    This landmark Continental Wealth Management criminal case will inevitably shine a much-needed spotlight on the issue of offshore financial services generally. CWM was just one example (albeit an extreme one) of an international financial services culture which generally disadvantages and/or defrauds consumers. The cause of this culture is a combination of the obsession with the insurance bond cartel: OMI, SEB, Generali, RL360 et al; the total reliance on (hidden) commission; the practice of churning (investing the same sum of money as often as possible to generate as much commission as possible) and the view that the client’s money and interests are secondary to the adviser’s.

    CWM victims outside the Denia Criminal Court on 25.2.2020 waiting for Dean Stogsdill and Neil Hathaway to finish being questioned on charges of fraud, disloyal administration and falsification of commercial documents.
    CWM victims outside the Denia Criminal Court on 25.2.2020 waiting for Dean Stogsdill and Neil Hathaway to finish being questioned on charges of fraud, disloyal administration and falsification of commercial documents.

    Most victims – whether parties to the criminal proceedings or not – are aware of the demise of CWM in September 2017. The company was slowly dying because of the number of victims the CWM scammers had ruined: the word was getting out (which was bad for business) so the victims who shouted loudest were getting paid off. This was having a seriously detrimental effect on CWM’s cashflow.

    The financial strain on the business was, however, made even worse by the fact that every last bit of spare cash in the CWM bank account was being used to keep Jody Smart in houses, frilly frocks, shoes and champagne. In 2017, the CWM bank statements show 158,614 EUR was transferred into her Mercurio property company bank account, and 123,400 EUR into her Jody Bell fashion design company bank account. But this was significantly down on the previous year: 386,921 EUR to Mercurio and 164,000 EUR to Jody Bell. The year before, 2015, 124,500 EUR into Mercurio and 39,000.00 into Jody Bell fashion. That’s almost 1 million EUR in two years pocketed by Jody – not counting the money paid into her Grant A Wish “charity” and her generous “salary”.

    During the same period, however, the revenue was at least 3,391,876.28 EUR in commissions from insurance bonds and structured notes. On top of this was a substantial amount of extra secret commission from the ultra-high-risk Leonteq structured notes, plus whatever Darren Kirby could con out of victims such as Mark Davison (who subsequently died penniless) and the other claimants pursuing Kirby and CWM through the criminal court in Denia in separate proceedings which pre-date our Pension Life proceedings.

    Looking back to the dying days of CWM when cashflow was slowly grinding to a halt as the company was paying out compensation to some of the worst-affected victims (and any remaining cash was being spent by Jody Smart on first-class flights to New York and champagne in five-star hotels – despite her claim to be working 24/7 on her Grant A Wish charity), there was a plan to “reinvent” and re-launch CWM. It eventually dawned on the CWM scammers that they couldn’t scam enough new victims quickly enough to pay out all the existing victims – so the answer was to start afresh with a brand new approach. The new approach was essentially the same as the old approach – except they aimed to sell more “products” and ruin more victims.

    The rest is history and CWM collapsed at the end of September 2017 – when all related parties withdrew terms of business. It is worth taking a careful look at the business plan which CWM had been intending to use to re-launch the business. This plan makes it clear that this was an unlicensed, insurance bond sales outfit which intended to continue to operate in contravention of the Spanish insurance regulations. If you read the plan carefully, you will see that CWM operating model was always based on a high-pressure sales target which ignored the interests of the clients (victims).

    CWM’s promotion had always been centered around the iniquitous cold call – but in addition the business plan reveals that Jody Smart’s Grant A Wish “charity” events had been used to “harvest” potential victims at scamming sales parties posing as bona fide fundraising efforts.

    Read the below CWM “Relaunch Business Plan” carefully and you will see how the scam works. If a victim transfers a £100,000 pension, it will fall in value in the hands of CWM to £91,976,000 by the end of year 1. This means the first year fees would have totalled £4,000 set up fee plus £1,000 annual management fee to CWM; £1,490 QROPS fee; £1,534 to fee OMI. It is interesting that Stogsdill has made the assumption in the plan that all clients will be put into an OMI bond – long before they’ve even met the client and found out if they actually need an insurance bond (which they never do as they are too expensive and lock investors in for up to ten years).

    The CWM “plan” shows how a victim’s fund could recover back up to £97,495 if it grows by 6%. But this doesn’t take into account the investment costs of between 5% and 8% – so that was never going to happen. So Dean Stogsdill of CWM – despite all the lessons which should have been learned from years of destroying victims’ funds, still fully intended to keep on doing the same to as many new victims as possible.

    Continental Wealth Management Business Plan 2017 (by Dean Stogsdill)

    Continental Wealth Management is an independent financial advice firm specialising in wealth management advice to English speaking expatriates throughout Europe – this statement is the key to CWM’s future success.

    CWM must focus on expanding our circle of influence and create new business through strategic placement of data gatherers. We must take on the business of “hard targets”, created to allow the best we have to flourish, whilst removing the weaker members of the team by natural selection. This is not a system for solely the sales force, but for all aspects of the team including call centre operators, administration and directors.

    CWM will have clear defined roles within the sales force with the addition of achievable, measurable targets on top of generous salaries which is the cornerstone of our payroll ethos. The business will flow from our Partners meaning the business can be closed efficiently and serviced by an experienced adviser who is well trained, knowledgeable and most importantly a “hungry individual”.

    There is a simple calculation on £100,000.00:

    £100,000 invested over 6 years in capital protected products will provide £6,250.00 in gross revenue.

    £100,000 invested over 6 years in a fund yielding 3% per annum growth will provide £10,690 in gross revenue.

    BACKGROUND

    CWM is a financial services company founded in 2007 on the Costa Blanca. It is a company specialising in pension transfers, portfolio bonds, offshore investments and single premium investments. It is a non-regulated company which is owned and operated by the directors / shareholders and founder Darren Kirby. Recent investors are Timothy Benjamin, and Mark Davison with share capital having been distributed amongst these investors.

    Directors / Shareholders

    Founder / Majority Shareholder – Darren Kirby

    Chairman – Neil Hathaway

    CEO – Dean Stogsdill

    COO – Anthony Downs

    Key Personnel

    Darren Kirby – He brings a wealth of experience in financial services with a keen head for figures and sales techniques. He has a strong view on the business and how it should be perceived by the clients, while strengthening our position through strategic investment decisions along with powerful leadership skills.

    Neil Hathaway – Decades of experience in insurance and wealth management, he brings a strong personality and great sales skills with the qualifications to match. He is a knowledgeable asset to the management of the sales force and uses his skills to bring through the less experienced members of the team.

    Dean Stogsdill – Strong sales record and up to date qualifications – he can sell at the most technical level and has a strong grasp of the investment market, regulation and products. Strong views on company direction.

    Anthony Downs – Organised, driven and a sales record to match. He drives through the issuing business and captures all revenues and commissions in the most efficient manner. Anthony is key to the efficient stream of payments required for this business model.

    Directors: Re-structure 2017

    Darren Kirby

    The final decision maker as majority shareholder means critical decisions will fall to him. A mandate to find new investors and revenue streams for CWM. An ambassadorial role and a creative thinker for the company, bringing fresh ideas on many aspects of the business both operational and non-operational.

    Neil Hathaway

    Key point of contact for the sales force. A remit to push the sales force to meet targets and close business. He will be in control of sales, possible bond lists as well as monitoring the business / LOA levels for each adviser. He will also have a key role in writing new business. This will be a target driven management position. All advisers will report directly to him.

    Dean Stogsdill

    Complete oversight of the business operationally with a close working relationship with the Chairman and COO. I will manage the company direction and overall development planning, strategies and high level management with department heads reporting directly to me. I will chair board meetings and deal with technical and regulatory planning. I will also be heavily involved in the efficient management of the investment book.

    Anthony Downs

    Full control of new business. A remit to drive through the revenues from written business to maximize the cashflow of the company. Target driven with targets based on company income needs, outstanding requirements and business written.

    With the current admin levels and management restructure we should be able to easily handle up to 7 bonds per week, plus client after care, outstanding requirements, investment and re-investment. We do not hire any more administration in 2017. Although this will be adjusted if business levels exceed 7 bonds per week.

    We are now a company where you perform, meet your target or you are replaced.

    Of the 9 bond writers, we have 1 in France, 1 in Turkey, 1 in Portugal and the other 6 are in Spain. I believe that we need to build up the business levels so that 9 bond writers can meet a target of 30 bonds per man for the year or an average of 3 a month, based on a 10 month / 40-week year. This would mean a company wide total of 270 bonds, at our target average of €10,000 commission per bond that would mean turnover of 2.7 million plus trail of €300,000 meaning a total of €3,000,000 for 2017.

    Call Centres – Cold calling with appointments made and revenue generated through call centres and call centres paid for on performance only.

    Market history:

    Historically we have concentrated on cold calling, Grant A Wish (“charity”) events, web videos, website and referrals from existing clients. The cold calling aspect is becoming more and more difficult and time consuming and other areas of marketing ourselves and our products must be found.

    Competition – Blevins Franks; DeVere; Abbey Financial; Spectrum; Blacktower

    Our average case size of £100,000 has costs associated with it as follows:

    Opening

    		Initial Single Premium 100,000

    		Total 100,000



    Charges CWM   

    		Initial CWM Set Up Charge 4,000 –

    		–

    		QROPS Set Up Charge and Annual Fee 1,490

    		OMI Annual Management Charge 1,150

    		CWM Annual Management Charge 1,000

    		OMI Annual Administration Charge (paid Quarterly) 384
    Total Expenses 8,024 3,354





    		Net 91,976

    		Estimated Growth 6% 5,519




    Year End Balance 97,495 99,789


       

    		– –

    		– –

    		– –

    		– –




    Balance on Fund 97,495 99,789

    This gives us a year 1 price point of 8.02% and an ongoing of 3.3%.

  • Chancellor must dump Andrew Bailey

    Chancellor must dump Andrew Bailey

    Chancellor Rishi Sunak must dump Andrew Bailey as governor of the BoE

    Dear Mr. Sunak

    I write to implore you on behalf of the British population in general; British victims of financial services scams in particular and the financial services industry in the UK, to dump Andrew Bailey as the next governor of the Bank of England.  Immediately.

    Secondly, I urge you to sort out the FCA, the Pensions Regulator, HMRC, FOS and POS, the Insolvency Service and the police authorities.  Limp, ineffective regulation and law enforcement have long been the facilitators of pension and investment scams in Britain.  This devastating and highly embarrassing failure on the part of the British government for so many years has got to be addressed – once and for all.

    The case of Andrew Bailey’s appointment as governor of the Bank of England is one which demonstrates beyond doubt that both failure and fraud are rewarded in equal measure in the UK.  Bailey has single-handedly proved that Britain’s government and authorities care not a jot about the reform of the toxic element of British financial services.  Bailey has turned his back on our country; our people; our reputation as a financial services centre which should be the best in the World.  Sadly, Britain has now become not just one of the worst in the World, but a laughing stock internationally.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBGVB2OWBYc

    Those who are laughing loudest are the scammers and fraudsters who have made fortunes – repeatedly for years – out of innocent, hard-working British people.  The criminals are still out there, scamming away merrily, while the FCA does nothing.  This sends out the message that while petty burglars who steal a few hundred pounds’ worth of goods may get prison sentences, those who steal millions are left free to continue to ply their evil trade and ruin hundreds – sometimes thousands – more innocent lives.  And all because neither the FCA nor any other British government agency or law enforcement service is willing or able to bring these filthy criminals to justice.

    Rishi Sunak - genius or nitwit as the new chancellor?

    Your predecessor, Sajid Javid, made one of the biggest bungles in British history by appointing Bailey as the next governor of the BoE and acclaiming him as an “outstanding candidate” in the wake of his years of negligence and outright laziness at the FCA.  It is clear that Boris Johnson manoeuvred Javid out of office by insisting he should sack all his political advisers.  The fact that not one of them came out publicly to condemn Javid’s appalling judgement, demonstrates their incompetence.  And they should never have any place in British government again.

    Bailey’s multiple failures have been showcased by many prominent financial services figures.  Well-respected True and Fair Foundation’s Gina Millar has publicly shamed the FCA and Bailey’s long-standing record of miserable failure.

    https://www.investmentweek.co.uk/news/4011346/gina-miller-calls-chancellor-review-andrew-bailey-appointment-boe

    Miller has quite rightly warned that Bailey’s appointment as governor of the BoE would be a gross betrayal of consumers’ interests.  She has eloquently described Bailey’s and the FCA’s catalogue of negligence, incompetence and indifference.  She has listed the many failures which have resulted in thousands of British citizens losing their life savings:

    • M&G Property Fund £2.5bn +
    • Woodford EI Fund £1bn +
    • London Capital and Finance £236m +
    • Dozens of fraudulent investment bonds
    • Dozens of fraudulent investment funds
    • Dozens of fraudulent banks
    • Thousands of victims who have lost a lifetime’s taxed savings and wasted a life of hard, diligent work.

    The finance ministry has apparently argued that Britain needs experienced, credible leadership.  And it is right.  But Bailey is not credible (except with the scammers) and his experience at the FCA is limited to weakening and discrediting financial regulation.

    Ask yourself why FCA staff have problems: they have mental health issues; they are demoralised and resentful of their masters; they defecate on the floor; they vandalise the kitchens. 

    On top of this, the FCA has been fined by the Pensions Regulator for not following regulations, and have wrongfully published complainants’ data on the FCA website.  This extensive list of embarrassing and shameful failures cannot be explained away with a wave of Bailey’s grubby hand.  The ethical sector of the financial services industry is paying for all this through FSCS levy hikes and vastly increased PII premiums.  And the buck stops with the chancellor, Mr. Sunak.

    Campaigner Mark Taber – a professional investor – has successfully shown the FCA that their job can, and should, be done relatively easily.  All it takes is the will and incentive to do the work.  In a matter of weeks, Taber has identified dozens of mini bond scams which are being openly promoted by Google.  And the FCA has done nothing.  Admittedly, the FCA might be somewhat rudderless while Bailey measures himself for a new suit and Mont Blanc for his new gig at the BoE, but they’ve shown zero interest in the fact that all it takes is for someone to actually care about financial services and for the public to be warned effectively. And further, for these fraudulent mini bonds to be banned and those responsible for promoting them (including Google) to be sanctioned.

    Mark Taber https://www.ft.com/content/83485d90-f832-11e2-92f0-00144feabdc0#axzz2bTtvusN4 is doing the FCA’s work for nothing.  Because he believes the public have a right to be protected. 

    Gina Miller https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gina_Miller#True_and_Fair_Foundation is trying to protect the public from the failures of the FCA and Andrew Bailey.

    Look on Twitter and see the cacophany of financial services professionals – some highly respected and high profile – who are embarrassed by and furious at the FCA’s multiple failures.  Ask the thousands of victims of financial scams in Britain and beyond.  And ask the loved ones of those who have died due to the FCA’s and Andrew Bailey’s multiple failings.  Then ask yourself: do you really think Bailey should be the governor of the Bank of England?

    This disgusting mess needs to be sorted out once and for all.  The British authorities and government have facilitated – and even encouraged – financial crime for more than a decade: openly and brazenly.  And you, Mr. Sunak, are now firmly in the hot seat.  I do hope you are wearing neoprene y-fronts – because you are going to need them.

    For several years, it has been claimed that there is an alliance called Project Bloom – of which the FCA and tPR are supposedly members.  But what has this so-called project achieved?  Pension and investment scams are flourishing more successfully than ever, and very few of the fraudsters are behind bars.  Still the victims of pension liberation scams are the ones facing penalties from HMRC while the scammers luxuriate in their country mansions and Florida holiday homes, sipping champagne and having a good laugh at the ineptitude of the British authorities.

    I will be writing to you openly and publicly over the next few weeks to encourage you to do the right thing.  If Bailey’s appointment as governor of the Bank of England goes ahead, it will thoroughly discredit Britain and the British government.  Your tenure as chancellor will be recorded in history as starting on a shameful note.  Boris Johnson will be remembered as the prime minister who disgraced Britain and destroyed the reputation of Britain’s financial services.

    Johnson is already on shaky ground as he promised to help and support some of his constituents who had fallen victim to the Ark pension scam (and has subsequently betrayed them by doing nothing to honour his promises).  The action you take next will determine whether you are another betrayer of the interests of consumers, or whether you have the balls to be proactive.

    Read Henry Tapper’s wonderful blogs:

    Ever wondered where those “pension leads” come from?

    Talk to some victims who’ve had the courage to take their case to a Spanish criminal court: https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-8044237/Victims-rogue-pensions-scandal-fight-courts.html

    Talk to Dalriada Trustees who are custodians of more than 30 scam pension schemes (but who don’t think it is their remit to report the perps to the police or initiate private criminal prosecutions).  Ask them how many of the schemes promoted and run by Stephen Ward and Peter Moat (since 2011) they now have under their control: https://www.fscs.org.uk/failed-firms/1-stop-fast-pensions/

    Go onto the Blackmore Bond and Global Fund Facebook Group and read the anguish of the betrayed lenders/investors: https://www.facebook.com/groups/498072800835888/

    But most important of all, go onto the Smith and Williamson website and read about what the FCA can do if it puts its mind to it: https://smithandwilliamson.com/en/services/restructuring-and-recovery-services/park-first/

    Having known about the high-profile Store First matter in 2014, the FCA is only now taking regulatory action against Park First more than five years later.  The funds of the 6,000 Park First investors have now been used to pay several £ millions in fees to Smith and Williamson and their lawyers Mishcon de Reya and Park First’s lawyers Paul Hastings.  And all because five years after the event, the FCA decided Park First was a collective scheme.  Five years after 6,000 people have invested in the scheme.

    But Park First exists.  The car parks exist.  And they are making money.  The FCA could have gone to the airports where the Park First car parks are operating.  Andrew Bailey could have driven his (undoubtedly luxurious) car into the Park First car parks and actually stood on the tarmac and watched the thousands of other car park users doing the same.

    Then Bailey could have asked what were the assets of Woodford, M&G Property, LC&F, Blackmore Bond and Blackmore Global Fund.  And he could have done the maths.  But, of course, he didn’t bother.

    Mr. Sunak – you can be a hero or a disgusting disgrace.  You choose.

    Regards, Angela Brooks – Pension Life

  • CWM Criminal Trial 24th February 2020

    CWM Criminal Trial 24th February 2020

    The protagonists behind collapsed Spanish advisory firm CWM – Continental Wealth Management – will be on trial week commencing 24th February in the Denia Criminal Court of First Instruction.

    Scammers at CWM destroyed 1,000 victims' life savings totaling £100 million. CWM was shut down in 2017 when the scale of their crimes became too embarrassing for OMI, SEB and Generali to tolerate any longer.

    This criminal matter will have enormous ramifications for similarly-affected victims, and for any advisory firms which have engaged in any of the same practices used by CWM. These illegal practices include the gratuitous selling of insurance bonds from bond providers such as OMI, SEB, RL360, Friends Provident and Generali; putting low-risk investors into commission-laden, high-risk investments; churning and concealment of backhanders; forged or copied client signatures on investment dealing instructions.

    The routine “sale” of insurance bonds (whether the clients need them or not – which 99% of the time they don’t) is illegal in Spain.  Undoubtedly this will be similar or identical in other jurisdictions.  The Spanish Supreme Court has ruled that insurance bonds are invalid for the purpose of holding investments. But still the scammers continue to flog them indiscriminately – purely for the fat commissions.

    Insurance bond salesmanship has become one of the biggest, most widespread and toxic crimes across all expat territories – and now it must be outlawed by the ethical sector of the financial services market. And there is an ethical sector which abhors the toxic and dishonest practices which will be the subject of the CWM trial. There is also a “semi-ethical” sector which is genuinely ashamed that it too has carried out such practices, but which is determined to clean up it’s act and “go straight” from now on.

    Make no mistake – the Denia Criminal Court is determined to clean up this stretch of the Costa Blanca in particular and Spain in general – as well as make an example out of the CWM scammers.  Some of the CWM victims, as well as Ark and Capita Oak victims – and those financially ruined by both Stephen Ward and Paul Clarke – will be at the court hearings the week of 24th February. There will be local and international press coverage to highlight the importance of this significant event.

    The defendants in the CWM case were served in early January.  They are now compelled to come to court to be cross-examined by our lawyer.  Each defendant will have his or her own legal representative and also a court-appointed translator.  The cross examinations will take place privately in front of the judge, but a transcript of each one will be published subsequently. I will translate these transcripts and make them publicly available on the Pension Life website as soon as they are made available by the court.

    The dates of the now compulsory court hearings are:

    • Monday 24th February from 10 a.m.: Darren Kirby; Patrick Kirby and Anthony Downs
    • Tuesday 25th February from 10 a.m.: Jody Smart, Neil Hathaway and Dean Stogsdill
    • Friday 28th February from 10 a.m.: Stephen Ward and Paul Clarke

    Darren Kirby did not show up for the last criminal trial – when he was accused of defrauding three victims out of their life savings in order to give him money to prop up the rapidly failing CWM and to pay money to his partner – Jody Smart – to invest in her fashion business: Jody Bell. One of the complainants in this previous case has since died.

    Stephen Ward of Premier Pension Solutions has fled to Florida where he owns a portfolio of at least ten mortgage-free properties near Disneyland. However, he will not succeed in avoiding prosecution.

    Sole director and shareholder of CWM, Jody Smart did turn up for the last criminal trial, so it is expected that she will probably attend this one. Smart will be keen to deflect blame from herself and claim that she was only a “nominee” director. However, in the last two years of operation, she paid herself 991,035.86 Eur (on top of her already more than generous director’s salary) – 670,035 Eur into her property company Mercurio Conpro and 321,000 Eur into her Jody Bell fashion business.

    The remaining CWM defendants: Anthony Downs, Neil Hathaway, Dean Stogsdill and Paul Clarke are likely to turn up since they are all based in Spain and have families, property and businesses here.

    CWM earned 3,391,876 Eur in commissions on sales of insurance bonds and structured notes in the last two years of operation. Scammers like CWM generally made at least 16% commission out of victims’ pensions and investments. This would mean that in this period, CWM scammed victims out of approximately 17,000,000 Eur. On top of his, the firm earned many hundreds of thousands from victims they cleaned out promising them shares in the company (which Darren Kirby had claimed was worth 10 million), properties and cars. But when the firm closed, the CWM bank account was virtually empty. This video will illustrate some of the appalling misery the CWM victims endured – and the extent to which Jody Smart benefited from the money stolen from the victims: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYlxu8YOaAM&t=3s

    The following related entities have been asked to provide documentary evidence to support the complainants cases:

    Inter Alliance, Globalnet, Trafalgar, Old Mutual International, SEB and Generali

    This evidence will include copies of risk profiles and investment dealing instructions – bearing the forged investor signatures.   

    This criminal case has been brought by using 17 “lead” cases – victims of the CWM scam who have all lost considerable amounts of their life savings. These victims are now the lead complainants who also represent the interests of the further hundreds of victims who have suffered similar fates. The lead complainants have put an enormous amount of time, work and self-sacrifice towards this matter. Each complainant has had to re-live the horror of their suffering at the hands of CWM – telling their painful stories to our lawyer Antonio Bertomeu. Most of the lead complainants are based in the vicinity of Denia – where CWM committed the majority of the crimes. However, one complainant came all the way from Portugal.

    I will be with Antonio Bertomeu the week before the trial as we prepare for the cross examination of the defendants in court during the week of 24th February.  This is a crucial point in the proceedings as there has been a substantial amount of further evidence which has emerged since this complaint was originally filed in court in June 2019.  There are also further defendants who will now need to be included in the proceedings.

    The Denia court has stressed that this is an issue which is of great importance as it involves three serious criminal offences which are likely to involve substantial financial penalties and custodial sentences:

    • Falsification of commercial documents
    • Disloyal administration
    • Continuous fraud

    The outcome of this case will inevitably have far-reaching consequences for the industry globally – especially since the practices which are the subject of these criminal proceedings have been widely practised for a number of years. These crimes have not been exclusive to Continental Wealth Management and their associates.  There are many victims beyond the clients of CWM who have suffered similar crippling investment losses. The scope of these criminal proceedings will now inevitably reach into other firms and jurisdictions.

  • Victims of Investment Fraud need Justice

    Victims of Investment Fraud need Justice

    As the decade comes to a close, it is clearer than ever that victims of investment fraud need justice. The dirtiest stain on society is that of pension and investment fraud. Scammers have made fortunes out of pension and investment scams in the UK and across the globe – in all leading expat jurisdictions. With little sign of this international crime abating, scammers continue making fortunes out of relieving people of their life savings.

    Dynamic Investment scam only tip of the iceberg
    The FCA managed to get out of bed (briefly) to bring to justice the scammer behind the Dynamic £600k investment scam. But completely overlooked over £1 billion worth of other investment scams.

    Meanwhile, the very authorities which should be preventing financial crime – regulators; law enforcement agencies; HMRC; Insolvency Service; government; courts – stand around clueless and helpless. Their inaction is embarrassing and disgusting – especially in the wake of the appalling announcement that Andrew Bailey has been appointed governor of the Bank of England.

    The saddest thing – for our society in general and existing victims in particular – is that it can be done. But we must ask ourselves why the criminals are brought to justice so seldom. On 20th December 2019, FT Adviser published an article reporting how one fraudster was brought to justice and ordered to pay redress to his victims.

    Manraj Singh Virdee of Dynamic UK Trades Ltd conned 24 victims out of more than £600,000. His method was to promise returns of 100% for investing in his forex trading and spread betting “expertise”. The FCA brought a case against this criminal who was convicted by Southwark Crown Court. The sentence was only a suspended prison sentence for running an unauthorised investment scheme. However, the court made a confiscation order against Singh Virdee of £171,913 – to be used to compensate the victims. If he doesn’t pay, he will be sentenced to two years in prison.

    It is indeed good to know that during a prolonged period of being asleep at the wheel, the FCA can do a wee bit of regulating. But why does Manraj Singh Virdee deserve to be sentenced for defrauding 24 victims out of £600,000 when so many other scammers have got away with defrauding many thousands of victims out of many £ millions?

    Victims of Investment Fraud need Justice: In 2020, pressure must be brought to bear on the inattentive, lazy and negligent authorities who have done nothing. It is simply not acceptable to turn a blind eye to so much financial crime. This is especially true when cases like the Singh Virdee one clearly demonstrate that if only they could be bothered, they could actually clean up the scamming industry. But, first, they have to want to do it. And as things stand, there is no evidence that they really do want to.

    While this would-be forex trader and spread better faces a couple of years behind bars, the rest of the scammers are still out there scamming away merrily and profitably. Shouldn’t 2020 be the year to make pension and investment scamming illegal? Because as things stand, the scammers know they can get away with it easily.

    Singh Virdee’s scam was pretty obvious, and I do not mean to trivialise the £600k he scammed out of his victims. But this is dwarfed by Stephen Ward‘s £3 million London Quantum pension scam; David Vilka‘s £7 million GFS QROPS scam; Stephen Ward and XXXX XXXX’s £10 million Capita Oak pension scam; XXXX XXXX’s £21 million Trafalgar Multi Asset QROPS investment scam; Phillip Nunn and Patrick McCreesh‘s £25 million Blackmore Bond investment scam; Stephen Ward’s £27 million Ark pension scam; Phillip Nunn and Patrick McCreesh‘s £41 million Blackmore Global investment scam; Old Mutual International and Leonteq‘s £94 million investment/life bond scam; London Capital & Finance‘s £230 million mini bond scam; Dolphin Trust‘s £600 million derelict property loan scam.

    So, come on FCA: £600,000 down – only £1,158,000,000 to go!

  • GFS QROPS LIQUIDATION

    GFS QROPS LIQUIDATION

    GFS QROPS LIQUIDATION: It is with a heavy heart that I have decided to ask the GFS Superannuation Scheme 2 (Hong Kong QROPS) members to support a petition for the winding up of the scheme and the liquidation of the underlying assets.

    For two years, I have been waiting for due process through the courts of Hong Kong to produce the desired result: a clear determination as to who the trustee is and permission for that trustee to take the appropriate action to release the members. I have resisted taking any action which could have prejudiced these proceedings. However, in recent weeks, it has become clear that the court proceedings are not likely to produce the desired result – either any time soon or at all. Meanwhile, the GFS members are trapped in a nightmare of uncertainty – unable to access their rightful benefits. The GFS members need two things urgently:

    1. Their funds back – either the cash held or the funds redeemed out of the high-risk, illiquid, unregulated investments into which their pension savings had been placed fraudulently


    2. Justice for the scammers who conned the members into transferring their pensions to a Hong Kong QROPS in the first place; and then tricked them into investing the money into these inappropriate, high risk, illiquid funds. One of the scammers was David Vilka of Square Mile International in the Czech Republic. Vilka (pictured below with his partner in crime – Fatty Ferguson) has a long track record of conning victims into high-risk investments which pay him fat commissions.


    It is now nearly two years since I first provided an affidavit to the court as to the unsuitable investments and the provenance of the “advisers” who cold called the members, and then – inevitably – made large commissions from the investment commissions.

    A great deal of time, effort and money has gone into the court proceedings, but it must now be acknowledged that it has brought the members no nearer to getting their pensions back (with the possible exception of those members who escaped having their funds invested and are still sitting in cash). 

    I am, therefore, going to ask the court in Hong Kong to order the winding up of the scheme and a full investigation into the investments – including to whom investment introduction commissions were paid – to be carried out. This should also include an application for the winding up of the underlying funds: Blackmore Global, Swan, GRRE, Eco Vista and Granite if possible.

    There is always a cost to liquidation proceedings, but I consider we have now reached the stage where the investors have got 100% of nothing, and we need to pursue (vigorously) the chance to at least get a lower percentage of something.

    Let us look at the background to QROPS scams. There is nothing inherently wrong with a QROPS. It is nothing but a “wrapper” which is registered by HMRC and can accept transfers from UK, HMRC-recognised pension schemes. This is important, as any person who transfers a pension to a non-HMRC recognised scheme is liable to a 55% tax charge as the transaction would be an UNAUTHORISED PAYMENT.

    But let us be clear: a scheme is given “recognised” status by HMRC because the administrator/trustee of the scheme says it complies with HMRC’s rules. HMRC does nothing to verify this – and if they decide some time later that the self-certification of the scheme was wrong (either deliberately or accidentally) then any members would get hit with a 55% unauthorised payment tax charge.

    The “O” in QROPS stands for “Overseas”. This means that a QROPS is supposed to do what it says on the tin: “provide an overseas pension for people living overseas”. This is the spirit of the QROPS legislation. A QROPS should only rarely be used for UK residents with high-value pension funds. A QROPS should NEVER be used for UK residents with low-value pension funds.

    However – for years – scammers have seized upon QROPS and abused them as a golden opportunity for scamming victims out of their retirement savings. As far back as 2009, Stephen Ward of Premier Pension Solutions was operating pension busting out of several New Zealand QROPS including Southern Star and Endeavour. Ward was, of course, earning huge commissions out of the transfers and the liberations.

    In 2012, after the collapse of the Ark (occupational pension) scam (which destroyed nearly 500 victims’ pensions totalling £27 million), Ward turned his attention to the Evergreen New Zealand QROPS. This operated 50% liberation and destroyed 300 victims’ pensions totaling £10 million – earning Ward 10% on the transfer fee and further fat commissions on the underlying Penrich and Spectrum investments.

    Since then, the use of QROPS for investment scams has become rife – replacing the previous weapon of preference: the bogus UK-based occupational scheme. Finally the Malta Regulator (MFSA) has introduced stiffer rules to try to prevent this. A prime example of a large-scale scam involving various QROPS in Malta, Gibraltar and Guernsey was the Continental Wealth fraud which involved 1,000 victims and £100 million worth of investments. Investors’ life savings were placed in pointless, commission-laden insurance bonds such as OMI, SEB and Generali, then invested in toxic structured notes which paid the scammers further hefty commissions.

    In 2014, STM Fidecs in Gibraltar was operating a scam in partnership with known scammer XXXX XXXX (who had been behind the Capita Oak scam and is now under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office). STM accepted 400 transfers from XXXX XXXX – an unqualified and unregulated adviser – in respect of UK-resident victims who should never have been transferred to an offshore scheme. STM then accepted £21 million worth of investment instructions into XXXX XXXX’s own fund: Trafalgar Multi Asset. This fund – a UCIS fund which was illegal to promote to retail UK residents – is now being wound up and the investors could face a total loss.

    In parallel, Harbour (another QROPS provider) in Malta (which had rejected XXXX XXXX’s Trafalgar scam) was accepting transfers and investment instructions from David Vilka into the Blackmore Global investment scam. Vilka was also using Integrated Capabilities and Investors Trust to earn even more eye-watering commissions from flogging Blackmore Global. Ironically, STM now owns Harbour Pensions – having bought the firm out and paid former owner Justin Caffrey £1 million.

    Investigations into the Blackmore Global investment scam have been ongoing for several years. The fund falsely claims the Investment Manager to be a company in Spain called Meridan Capital Partners (who claimed they had never heard of Blackmore Global – or the scammers behind the fund: Patrick McCreesh and Phillip Nunn). There have never been any audited accounts for the Blackmore fund. However, it is known that the underlying assets include Swan and GRRE – funds into which the GFS members are also invested.

    There are two camps of GFS members:

    a. Those who were invested in Blackmore Global, Swan, GRRE, Eco Vista and SN Granite funds and, apparently, “locked in” for between five and ten years

    b. Those who were not invested in any of these UCIS funds, but who are still in cash and appear to be trapped somewhere between the conflicted trustees in Hong Kong. Some of these members are in Hansard insurance bonds. Hansard will not release their money until the issue of the trustees is clarified or the trustees voluntarily reach agreement.

    Part of the reason for my decision is that it is clear that one of the investments – the Blackmore Global fund – is part of a wider investment scam.  This fund is also invested in the other funds: Swan and GRRE etc., and is run by Phillip Nunn and Patrick McCreesh who were running the lead generation and cold calling operation for the Capita Oak/Henley pension scam.  All those involved in Capita Oak are now under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office.

    Blackmore Global is part of the Blackmore Group which also operates a bond called Blackmore Bond.  This bond was promoted by Surge Group (Paul Careless) which was also responsible for the promotion of another failed bond: London Capital & Finance.  It is public knowledge that Surge was paid over £100 million to promote these two bonds.  LC&F is now being wound up by Finbarr O’Connell (below) of Smith & Williamson. Careless is now under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office following his arrest in June 2019.

    I will be sending members a letter of authority to sign which I will submit to the court in Hong Kong in support of the petition. I am instructing solicitors immediately. Please be advised that this decision has been taken with the greatest of regret. I have watched and waited quietly while the different parties have spent a fortune on legal fees – but members are still in limbo. I cannot allow this to continue: wasting members’ precious remaining years.

    I know that members have been frustrated by the lack of news, and I am deeply sorry. However, it was not prudent to give out information while there was a possibility that the matter could have been resolved in court – or, preferably, amicably. It would have been irresponsible of me to disclose anything that could have prejudiced the proceedings or hindered a possible resolution to the deadlock in the litigation.

    We are now way past that point. Against a backdrop of the legal stalemate in the Hong Kong court; multiple associated investigations by the Serious Fraud Office in similar cases; numerous winding-up orders against various funds and bonds with links and similarities to this case; the complete absence of any audited accounts by any of the funds in which the GFS members’ pensions are invested; evidence of pension liberation; absence of full disclosure or cooperation by the parties involved, I don’t believe there is any alternative.

    I will now be taking legal action against the various parties who claim to be trustees in the Hong Kong court. These include: Connaught West; Michael John Foggo; Tribune Ltd.

    The priority is firstly to protect the interests of the members and secondly to bring to justice those responsible for putting the members’ funds at risk.

  • Alliance Partnership – ‘ere we go again!

    Alliance Partnership – ‘ere we go again!

    Alliance Partnership – ‘ere we go again! Just how many warning signs do you need?

    How many warnings do you really need?

    Alliance Partnership – ‘ere we go again! After the Continental Wealth Management debacle – a fraud facilitated by the usual suspects: Old Mutual International, Generali and SEB – the public must be warned about similar firms which are likely to scam unsuspecting victims.

    In the case of Alliance Partnership Limited – a firm registered in Nevis (where so many scams and scammers are registered because of the secrecy afforded them), there is just about every single warning sign possible. The public must be aware of the dangers posed by this firm.

    With an office in the Czech Republic, this firm has been selling insurance products and investing victims’ funds into unregulated collectives – such as LM – illegally.

    Look at the Alliance Partnership Limited website and you will find all the warning signs are clearly there in black, white, green and red:

    The exact same three death offices as used by Continental Wealth Management to destroy up to £50,000,000

    You simply couldn’t make it up: Alliance Partnership Limited is proudly displaying the three worst insurance companies: Generali, Old Mutual International and SEB, which facilitated the £100 million Continental Wealth Management scam between 2008 and 2017.

    Generali, Old Mutual International and SEB accepted investment instructions from this unregulated firm of scammers into high-risk, toxic structured notes and risky, illiquid UCIS funds. Long after the losses became evident, as low-risk investors were placed into these entirely inappropriate high-risk investments – only suitable for professional or sophisticated investors – Generali, Old Mutual International and SEB carried on accepting identical investment dealing instructions from the scammers at Continental Wealth Management.

    Alliance Partnership Limited has an insurance license in the Czech Republic and boasts that it can “help all of our clients and their unique needs related to the life journey of their financial aspirations”. They claim to be “financial planners” and that “no future is too big or too small for us”. 

    Alliance Partnership – ‘ere we go again! Yet another firm with an insurance license flogging expensive insurance bonds that nobody needs. If an investor wants to be stuck in a toxic, unnecessary insurance bond – provided by Old Mutual International, Generali, Hansard Global or SEB – which will cost a huge amount in fees and will offer high-risk, unregulated investments – then this is indeed the solution!

    But sensible investors, who don’t want to lose their life savings, should steer well clear. Alliance Partnership claims they are “here to help”. They are using unethical, unscrupulous insurance companies which will take business from any old unregulated scammers. Old Mutual International, Generali, Hansard and SEB deliberately ruin their clients’ funds with high-risk toxic funds, so the public needs to be warned about this firm.

    The only reason firms such as Alliance Partnership use these death offices, is because insurance bonds pay 8% commission. And we know there is a history of using rogue funds such as LM. So steer well clear! Others have been ruined so it is important to learn from them.

    How many more alarm bells do you want?

    How many alarm bells would you like? If the above warnings aren’t enough, here are some more – all there in black and white on the Alliance Partnership website: http://www.alliancesro.com/about.html

    • Alliance Partnership claims to offer savings plans. As it is openly promoting the likes of Generali and RL360, these are bound to be the same savings plans as used to scam thousands of victims into these toxic, expensive, inflexible plans.
    • Alliance Partnership is promoting “alternative investments”. We know that it was selling the LM fund to its victims, and this should ring loud alarm bells – because most of these so-called alternatives only serve to pay the introducer large commissions. Funds such as LM have ruined thousands of investors who have lost all their life savings thanks to unscrupulous brokers and introducers posing as “advisers”.
    • Alliance Partnership claims to offer portfolio and wealth management. The firm does not have an investment license – so it can’t legally give investment advice.
    • Alliance Partnership says it can provide pension planning services – but with just an insurance license, this is illegal.
    • Alliance Partnership is promoting the Canaccord Genuity fund – a fund which is under investigation by the FCA for non-disclosure of fees.
    • Alliance Partnership is featuring not just rogue insurance companies such as OMI, SEB and Generali on its website, but also RL360, Zurich Hansard and FPI. It is disappointing to see Investors Trust advertised on the website: this is the only life office which has ever done anything decent for investment scam victims.
    • Alliance Partnership claims to have a “team of financial planners”, and yet there is no “meet the team” section on the website. This means potential victims have no idea who the team are and can’t check up on their qualifications.
    • Alliance Partnership is promoting Azure Pensions – a QROPS run by Integrated Capabilities. This was a firm which facilitated the Blackmore Global investment scam and should be given a wide berth. https://pension-life.com/azure-pensions-a-reputation-built-on-lack-of-trust/

    Don’t take my word for it. Read the Alliance Partnership website. All the alarm bells are clearly there. Learn from past victims’ mistakes – don’t be next!

  • Locked Out of LinkedIn

    Locked Out of LinkedIn

    Locked out of LinkedIn for Defamation? Moi?

    “Due to the receipt of multiple defamation claim reports, your account has been restricted pending your agreement to our terms. Please note that it’s our policy to terminate user accounts when we receive multiple reports of this nature.”

    But who could have reported me for defamation? The problem is that there are so many possible candidates who have been caught contravening regulations; not having sufficient qualifications and abusing titles. And, most of all, causing their clients to lose money.

    So, been wracking my brain and wondering what I could have written in my blogs that could possibly be classed as defamatory. Part of the problem is that I rarely write good stuff. You won’t often read things like: “Mr. G from the Costa Lotta told me he was so delighted with the advice he received from his properly regulated, qualified and behaved adviser that he hasn’t lost any money”.

    I only tend to write about people who have lost money – because they are the only people who contact me and ask for help.

    Getting out my crystal ball to find out who reported me for defamation.

    So, dusting off my trusty crystal ball, I went through all my blogs in the past year to see if I could work out who was behind this spurious accusation(or series of spurious accusations) of defamation. And I came across quite a few likely suspects. And of course, they are all parties who have caused victims to lose money or to be put in a position where they are at risk of losing money.

    Abbey Wealth – Spanish firm with no investment license currently being sued alongside Old Mutual International in the Spanish Civil Court
    Andrew Bailey – Head of Knitting at the Facilitating Crime Advocates – allergic to regulating; has his eye on the Bank of England top job
    Aviva – First in the alphabet of lazy, callous, negligent ceding pension providers who routinely hand over £ millions to the scammers
    Azure Pensions – Continuing trend set by Integrated Capabilities and Optimus QROPS; facilitated the Blackmore Global investment scam
    Belgravia Wealth – Dodgy advisory firm with job offer for financial advisers: “no financial qualifications needed”
    Berkeley Burke – Any old investments as long as they are pure crap, high risk, illiquid and pay the scammers high commissions
    Blackmore Global – Fund of illiquid, risky assets with no independent audit and no sign of return of funds to hundreds of victims
    Blevins Franks – Criminal offence in Spain with sale of Lombard death bonds which lock victims in and charge high commissions/fees
    CCI – Niall Coburn’s Coburn Corporate Intelligence – Australian wannabe claims management company
    David Vilka – long history of scamming victims into QROPS to be invested in worthless crap such as Blackmore Global
    Dolphin Trust – now known as the German Property Group with hundreds of angry investors (lenders) desperate to get their money back
    DWF Solicitors – acted both for the Insolvency Service and Stephen Ward (the scammer) in the Capita Oak pension scam
    FCA – knitting club for lazy people only interested in after-the-event, low-hanging fruit and zero interest in proactive prevention or action
    Flying Colours – run by Guy Myles (too many Ys)
    Generali – provider of long-term savings plans and death bonds to scam victims out of their savings and pay scammers huge commissions
    Gerrard Associates – firm run by Gary Barlow; worked in league with Stephen Ward; responsible for the London Quantum pension scam
    Gleeson Bessent – shut down by Insolvency Service; directors banned for “mis-management” and high-risk, high-commission investments
    HMRC – registers the scammers as pension trustees; registers the scam schemes; taxes the victims
    Insolvency Service – winds up investments used by scammers but doesn’t take robust action against the scammers
    International Adviser – PR agency for Old Mutual International
    XXXX XXXX – scammer behind Capita Oak, Henley, Westminster and Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund/STM Fidecs; under investigation by SFO
    John Ferguson – scammer who works with David Vilka; runs Square Mile Financial Services, Aspinall Chase and Aktiva Wealth Management
    Leonteq – provider of high-commission gambling products for scammers to earn high commission and to destroy victims life savings
    London Capital & Finance – “mini bond” destroyed 11,625 investors’ savings totalling £237,207,497; promoted by Surge Group
    Michael Doherty – cheeky Irishman who runs Robusto and Woodbrook Group which employed three ex Continental Wealth scammers
    Neil Woodford – former fund management star whose fund is now suspended and publicly exposed as being high-risk and illiquid
    Niall Coburn – Australian lawyer/barrister who aspires to claims management and is planning on learning English one of these days
    Old Mutual International – death bonds; works with scammers to destroy victims’ life savings e.g. £94m worth of Leonteq structured notes
    Olive Press – freebie publication in Spain which never lets the truth get in the way of a good story
    Patrick McCreesh – Phillip Nunn’s partner; lead generation for the Capita Oak scam and now runs the Blackmore Group investment scams
    Pensions Ombudsman – being deluged by Pension Life with complaints against negligent ceding providers who ignored the Scorpion warning
    Pensions Regulator – registered all the occupational pension scams and facilitated £ millions of financial crime
    Peter Kenny – CEO of Old Mutual International death office and responsible for the destruction of £billions of victims’ life savings
    Philip Hammond – pursuer of “caravan crime” who refused to address pension crime
    Phillip Nunn – partner of Patrick McCreesh; responsible for over 1,000 victims of XXXX XXXX´s pension scams losing their pensions
    Quilter Cheviot – in “partnership” with Old Mutual International and obviously doesn’t care about their professional reputation
    Robusto – owned by Michael Doherty and staffed by unqualified “advisers”
    Russell Fund – provider of mediocre, expensive investments to Blevins Franks
    Seagate – unregulated Spanish firm run by unqualified would-be “advisers”; claim to “work with all major International Death Companies”
    SEB – provider of death bonds and collaborates with scammers to destroy victims’ funds by investing in high-risk, high-commission crap
    Square Mile International Financial Services – Czech Republic firm run by scammers John Ferguson and David Vilka; insurance license only
    Stephen Ward – where to start!  Prolific scammer; destroyed thousands of victims’ life savings with high-risk, high-commission investments
    STM Fidecs – collaborated with scammer XXXX XXXX in the Trafalgar Multi-Asset Fund scam which conned 400 victims out of £21 million
    Surge Group – promoters of London Capital & Finance “mini bond”, and also Nunn & McCreesh’s Blackmore Bond – earning Surge over £60m
    Tinky Winky – arrogant twat, ex tPR, now LGPS
    Tolleys – publisher of Stephen Ward’s Pensions Taxation Manual
    Utmost Wealth – took over Generali but still hasn’t compensated the victims for their losses at the hands of the scammers
    Woodbrook Group – run by Michael Doherty; offers structured products to retail clients; owns Mondial in Dubai and Robusto in Germany
    Woodford Equity Income Fund – run by Neil Woodford and in deep shit

    Out of this lot, I have no idea who might have reported me to LimpedIn for defamation. But CRYSTAL BALLS to whoever it was.