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 […]
POST OFFICE V LIFE OFFICE Read More »
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
Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund Judgement Read More »
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
Goodbye Bond Review Read More »
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
Paul Feeney of Quilter and the Marshmallow Regulator Read More »
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?
International Adviser Awards Read More »
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; 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 Criminal Case and Business Plan Read More »
Will new chancellor Richi Sunak have the balls to dump Andrew Bailey? Will he understand what needs to be done to reform the FCA? Will he make a name for himself as a hero or just hopeless?
Chancellor must dump Andrew Bailey Read More »
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.
CWM Criminal Trial 24th February 2020 Read More »
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
Victims of Investment Fraud need Justice Read More »
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
GFS QROPS LIQUIDATION Read More »
Alliance Partnership – ‘ere we go again! Just how many warning signs do you 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
Alliance Partnership – ‘ere we go again! Read More »
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
Locked Out of LinkedIn Read More »
Woodford Equity Income Fund – perhaps a wonderful opportunity to get investment management and advice right at last? There is a huge difference between an investment scam and a fund which is in trouble because of an error of judgement (as pointed out by Stephen Sefton – an expert on pension and investment scams as
Woodford – right investment wrong investors? Read More »
What is a death bond? Also known as a life bond, portfolio bond, executive bond, offshore bond – or, if you are a commission-based broker – an 8% commission bond. Who provides death bonds? The usual suspects (many of whom also provide ghastly long-term savings plans that ruin savers): Old Mutual International RL360 SEB Lombard
Fighting pension scams: Regulation If it was easy to stop pension scams, everyone would be doing it. Clearing up the mess left behind a pension scam is a huge challenge. This is why clear international standards need to be recognised and adopted. The scammers are like flocks of vultures. If people only used regulated firms,
Fighting pension scams: Regulation Read More »
HOW DO PENSION SCAMS WORK? Every pension scam starts with a negligent transfer. Ceding providers hand over millions of pounds to pension scammers every year. Firms – from Aviva to Zurich – ignore warnings by regulators and HMRC. The providers tick their boxes; the scammers make their millions; the victims are ruined. The ceding providers
Transferring pensions to scammers – the ABC of shame Read More »
Another high-risk investment fund goes belly up. London Capital & Finance (LCF) has gone into administration, not long after taking a whopping £236m of investments – much of which was from first-time investors. It is thought that 12,000 investors have been financially ruined. This tragic news comes as plans are being drawn up to take
London Capital & Finance collapses Read More »
Attention financial advisers in Spain/who provide financial advice to Spanish residents. 18th February 2019 DEATH OF THE LIFE BOND: The Spanish insurance and pensions regulator, the DGS, made a judgment against Costa Blanca-based Continental Wealth Management (CWM) on 10.1.2019. The order (translated and summarised below) confirmed that there are strict regulations in Spain for
Death of the Life Bond (Life of the Death Bond?) Read More »
The sophistication of investment scams has reached new levels in Singapore LeeSeongWee I “borrowed” this blog from my Twitter friend in Singapore who clearly understands and cares about investment scams – and the inability of the inept authorities to do anything about them. This is true not just in Singapore but throughout the world –
Sophisticated Scams in Singapore Read More »
Scammers who act as financial advisers and operate pension scams, don’t wear a badge to identify themselves – nor do they pay any redress for the devastation they cause. Oh no, of course they don’t! The scammers dress in snazzy suits, drive go-faster cars, sport posh briefcases and speak with a silky sales tune floating
POOF! – there goes your whole life savings Read More »
SCAMMER JAILED! Hip hip hooray! we say. What a great start to the new year. Neil Bartlett, 53, of Delamere Road, Ainsdale, used £4.5m of his victims’ money to fund an extravagant lifestyle of foreign travel, top hotels and gambling. Bartlett was handed an eight year sentence for his involvement in the multi-million pound investment fraud
Scammer jailed – hip hip hooray! – scammer jailed Read More »
FT adviser published an article entitled, Cold calling ban approved by committee. However, do not get too excited as it hasn’t actually been approved by Parliament or got anywhere closer to being included in UK legislation. Plans to ban cold calling were announced back in August 2017. Scammers love to cold call their victims and hard
Cold calling ban still not approved Read More »
This could possibly be described as wonderful news for the victims of Viceroy Jones New Tech Ltd, Viceroy Jones Overseas PCC Limited, Westcountrytruffles Limited, Truffle Sales Ltd and Credit Free Limited. Or maybe not. The whereabouts of the funds is unknown. This pension liberation and investment scam saw 100 investors conned out of £9m of
High Court finally winds up the truffle saga pension scam Read More »
I have enormous respect for FT Adviser. Their articles are written by proper journalists and they generally write competently and professionally. FT Adviser puts International Adviser to shame with their thinly-disguised promotional shows and Micky Mouse “articles” which only ever promote their own sponsors – Old Mutual International and their ilk. It was really interesting
FT Adviser Top 100 Financial Advisers 2018 Read More »
Integrated Capabilities – a Trust Company based in Malta have created their own Pension Scheme – Azure Pensions. On the face of it, however, the management team do not appear to have learned anything from their previous experience with Optimus Retirement Benefit Scheme No.1 and their association with David Vilka of Square Mile International Financial. It
AZURE PENSIONS – a reputation built on lack of trust Read More »
Sadly, Spain – the leading British expat destination in Europe – is rife with scams and scammers. The Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol, Costa Brava and everything in between are crawling with what the Spanish regulator calls “chiringuitos” – literally “bar flies”. And you can see why: wherever there is food – whether fresh or
COSTA SCAM – THE COST OF “ADVICE” IN SPAIN Read More »
Blevins Franks – a so-called financial advisory firm in Spain and other places around the Med – might (hopefully) offer me a job. I quite fancy trying my hand at being a financial adviser, so I’m practicing cheesy smiles and earnest but friendly poses. Over the weekend I’m going to rehearse some elevator pitches and killer closing offers
RUSSELL UP CLIENTS FOR BLEVINS FRANKS Read More »
Unqualified Pension Scammers Banned Articles like New Model Adviser’s report on some of the scammers behind the Capita Oak/Henley/Store First scam getting banned always makes me smile. Knowing that a few pension scammers (four in this case), are being named and shamed – as well as banned from being directors – motivates me to share information
Unqualified pension scammers banned Read More »
Nitwit or Dragonfly? Gambling or Investing? Are investment losses as a result of a bad adviser or a bad investment? Or both? The real question is: how does the consumer tell the difference? A favourite episode of Fawlty Towers involved Basil’s ill-fated bet on a racehorse called Dragonfly. Confusion sets in – fuelled by the
Nitwit or Dragonfly? Gambling or Investing? Read More »
Written by Kim All pension and investment scams have one thing in common: if the pension scam victims had asked the offshore advisers some or all of these 10 essential questions, they might not have lost their life savings to the scammers. Here at Pension Life, we are working hard to help educate the masses
Cartoon blog – Don’t be the next pension scam victim Read More »
Pension scammers have a “code”. Rather like pirates, they are not to be trusted. They pick their words carefully, revealing little; they are sneaky and lack any morals. They are good at disguises and if they fear they may be rumbled, they will disappear over the horizon, never to be seen again. They certainly won’t
Trolley’s Pension Scam Guide Read More »
International Adviser and the Old Mutual International/Quilter Scams. Today’s jolly: “Future Advisory Forum Europe 2018” at the Courthouse Hotel, Shoreditch, will see a number of players in the financial services industry discussing – presumably – financial services in 2018. I’ve looked at the agenda, however, and I can’t see anything about pension scams or investment scams
International Adviser and the Old Mutual International/Quilter Scams Read More »
2,000 victims of fraudulent pension firms may be in with a chance of getting their funds back. In November, the FCA pushed for legal proceedings to go ahead against collapsed firm Avacade Limited, trading as Avacade Investment Options; and Alexandra Associates (UK) Limited, trading as Avacade Future Solutions. Past prosecutions made by the FCA: In 2016,
Pay back due from fraudulent pension firms Read More »
Here at Pension Life, we are constantly trying to raise awareness about pension scams. The Financial Conduct Authority – FCA – has also been busy. Pairing up with the Pensions Regulator – tPR – they have published the ScamSmart campaign with the slogan – Be ScamSmart with your pension. With the ScamSmart campaign, they have also
FCA launches new ScamSmart campaign Read More »
ROLL UP! ROLL UP! ME HEARTY SCAMMERS! OMI’S LATEST STRUCTURED NOTE SCAM IS ONLY AVAILABLE UNTIL SEPTEMBER 28TH SO GET A JIGGLE ON WHILE STOCKS OF THIS TOXIC CRAP LAST! WE ARE PROUD TO OFFER OUR VALUED SCAMMERS YET ANOTHER INVESTMENT SCAM BY OLD MUTUAL INTERNATIONAL. This wonderful investment scamming opportunity with OMI, is open to
YET ANOTHER STRUCTURED NOTE SCAM BY OLD MUTUAL INTERNATIONAL Read More »
This week, in my mission to disclose advisory firms´ claims to qualifications (or in fact the lack of them), I am looking into Square Mile International Financial Services – qualified and registered? What the Square Mile website page says: Despite referring to their Prague headquarters in a lovely paragraph: “Square Mile has a dedicated customer
Square Mile International Financial Services – qualified and registered? Read More »
In many pension scams, we see the use of totally unsuitable, high-risk, for-professional-investor-only structured notes. These notes often offer the introducer high commissions. However, they are risky, fixed-term investments that often end in the loss of some – or even all – of the fund invested. Therefore, these types of investments are totally unsuitable for
Structured notes – knowing the risks Read More »
Victims of the unregulated property scheme Harlequin, may be disheartened to know that Alistair Burns has escaped with a reduced fine for his role as chief executive of TailorMade International. The FCA originally proposed Burns should face a fine of £233,600, along with a ban back in December 2016. However, the Upper Tribunal, whilst upholding the ban, has
TailorMade International – gets a tailor-made fine reduction Read More »
Investors’ trust is what gets violated in so many cases by irresponsible and negligent insurance companies such as Old Mutual International, SEB, Generali, RL360, Friends Provident International – and, of course, the firm in the Cayman Islands: Investors Trust. These companies – also known as “life offices” (although we prefer to call them “death offices”
Serious Violation of Investors’ Trust – by Investors Trust (life office) Read More »
49-year-old Freddy David of Elstree, Borehamwood, of North London, faces six years in jail for conning millions of pounds out of people in his community through an investment scam. David, once a well-respected member of his community and former financial adviser, obtained money by deception to fund his gambling habit. Figures of his scam are
Jailed – adviser who gambled his investors´ money away Read More »
Trustees have the power to block pension transfers if they suspect a scam – they must use it! Now the Ombudsman has upheld a complaint against the Police trustee, there is hope for further justice against negligent pension trustees. In the Royal London v Hughes case, Royal London suspected an attempted transfer was destined to
Trustees Must Block Transfers to Pension Scams Read More »
Humour me – you may consider me to be naive – but I believe that the ills of financial services (especially offshore) can be put right. All it takes is for the ethical stakeholders to outlaw the unethical ones. Yes, it will be a bit like something out of the Old Testament – but I
WANTED: MAGIC FAIRY TO CURE WHAT’S WRONG WITH FINANCIAL SERVICES OFFSHORE Read More »
Old Mutual International filed a High Court application on 16th March 2018. On 20.3.18, Old Mutual obtained a judgment in the High Court of Justice of the Isle of Man (Case Reference 18/0012). His Honour The Deemster Doyle, First Deemster and Clerk of the Rolls delivered his determination to OMI’s lawyer, Elizabeth Simpson of Simcocks.
OLD MUTUAL INTERNATIONAL V LEONTEQ CASE MOVED TO LONDON Read More »
David Vilka of Square Mile International Financial Services has exactly the sort of lawyer one would expect: a scammer’s lawyer. Unsurprisingly, this dope can’t even spell Vilka’s victim’s name and has referred to him as “Mr Sexton” as opposed to “Mr Sefton”. But, again, this is no surprise. What I must challenge, however, is the fact that
DAVID VILKA’S VILE US ATTORNEY Read More »
Pension Life followers will know that we have been conducting a series of blog investigations – “qualified & registered?” into offshore pension companies offering financial advice for retail pension investments. Some of the data we have collated is rather worrying – the purpose of this blog is to rank the companies in order of their
Qualified & registered? We do not need to be – we are offshore! Read More »
If you have been following Pension Life´s blogs, you will know that we have been conducting a series of investigations into qualified and registered financial advisers in various firms. Today is Woodbrook Group – qualified and registered? See question 5 on our blog about the ten essential questions to ask any advisory firm you are considering using:
Woodbrook Group – qualified and registered? Read More »
I’ve been very concerned about Dolphin Trust GmbH for some time. There’s an awful lot of pension money being loaned to this company – and I don’t get to hear of many (in fact any) people who have had their loans repaid. That doesn’t mean they haven’t been repaid – it just means I haven’t heard
Trussed by Dolphin Trust? Read More »
STM Fidecs and the Gibraltar FSC – Evil lives on at the rock I have read the report about what happened to the scammers at STM Fidecs in the wake of the Gibraltar FSC’s investigation and Deloitte’s so-called “expert report”. Frankly, I am stunned. I have members who are victims of the Trafalgar Multi-Asset Fund and
STM Fidecs and the Gibraltar FSC – Evil lives on at the rock Read More »
Welcome to my world – and the four letter word that sends a chill down most people’s spine: HMRC. A world where justice and taxation are not just in different countries, but on different continents. And, sadly, where thousands of British expats are living under the shadow of a ticking time bomb because of arrangements
TICKING TAX TIME BOMB ON LIFE SAVINGS Read More »
SEB – NO TRUST – NO RESPECT – NO EXCUSE. SEB’s many victims have no trust or respect for this disgraceful firm which has failed them so dismally. There has been no excuse for SEB’s appalling behaviour – and now is the time for SEB to put the damage right. This week, SEB had the
SEB – NO TRUST – NO RESPECT – NO EXCUSE Read More »
